If This Were a Story

by Beth Turley

Overview

“An imaginative debut.” —Booklist
“Hannah’s growth is organic and well earned.” —Publishers Weekly

In the tradition of Crenshaw and The Thing About Jellyfish, ten-year-old Hannah copes with the bullies at school and troubles at home through the power of stories in this sweet and sincere debut.

Tenacious. That means strong-willed. My mother calls me that.

I wish I felt the same way.

If this were a story, I would discover I was a direct descendent of a famous soldier who won countless battles and protected hundreds of people. This resilience running through my veins wouldn’t be damaged by the notes; it would fight off bullies and prevent my parents from yelling at each other.

But this is not a story. This is real life. My life as ten-year-old Hannah Geller, who is the only girl in fifth grade to have little red bumps on her face, is unable to let the sad thoughts escape her mind, and leaves heads-up pennies wherever she can to spread good luck.

And who also finds magic in the most unlikely of places.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534420632
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster
Publication date:	02/13/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	257
Sales rank:	816,984
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Beth Turley is a graduate of the MFA in creative and professional writing program at Western Connecticut State University. She lives and writes in southeastern Connecticut, where the leaves changing color feels like magic and the water is never too far away. She is the author of If This Were a Story, The Last Tree Town, The Flyers, and This Close to Home. Visit her on Twitter @Beth_Turley.

Read an Excerpt

If This Were a Story


I measure how happy a day is with sounds. Happy days sound like a TV on low volume or birdcalls through a screen door. Sad days sound like dishes crashing into each other in the sink. Sad days sound like too-loud voices. Once a day is stained sad, it’s hard to make it happy again.

My class copies vocabulary into our notebooks. I write the words like an astronomer discovering a new planet, as if the definitions can unlock the secrets of outer space. “Instantaneous”: when something happens without any delay. “Iridescent”: the quality of changing colors when viewed from different angles. “Intention”: an aim or a plan.

The tip of my pencil breaks. I walk to the back of the room and shove my pencil into the sharpener. The grinding sound is a happy one. It means a new point, a shiny do-over.

On the way back to my desk, I see a small piece of paper crunched into a ball on the floor. I pick the paper up with the intention of throwing it away, but it looks like my name is written on it. I unravel the note and read the three words on a torn sheet of lined paper. The words fill my head with the sound of flying arrows, quiet and quick and aimed in my direction. A sad-day sound.

NOBODY LIKES HANNAH.

Editorial Reviews

06/18/2018
Hannah keeps her feelings bottled up tight, but after she finds a note saying “Nobody likes Hannah” in her fifth grade classroom, her stuffed elephant, Ambrose, starts speaking to her, and she begins a slow journey toward opening up. Hannah is sent to the school counselor, whose official write-ups of their meetings appear along with Ambrose’s observations throughout the story (hints of a traumatic event in Hannah’s family may hold the key to her emotional block). More bullying notes appear, causing a rift between Hannah and one of her best friends as well as escalating tension with the class bully, Kimmy. But all is not as it seems, and everyone has a story in this vibrant debut that leads to a twist readers won’t see coming. Turley deftly conveys how much it costs Hannah to hide her feelings, walling her off from loved ones. The Kimmy subplot may conclude too easily, but Hannah’s growth is organic and well earned. Ages 8–12. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Like Ali Benjamin’s The Thing about Jellyfish (2015), Turley’s accomplished novel is deeply rooted in the imagination of its protagonist, whose hopes and fears are truthfully voiced. . . .An imaginative debut.

Booklist

"Like Ali Benjamin’s The Thing about Jellyfish (2015), Turley’s accomplished novel is deeply rooted in the imagination of its protagonist, whose hopes and fears are truthfully voiced. . . .An imaginative debut.

Booklist

2018-05-14
In her debut novel, Turley presents introspective fifth-grader Hannah, who discovers a note on her classroom floor that says, "Nobody likes Hannah."No one admits to writing it, but it could have been Kimmy, whose mother died the year before and who's obviously unhappy and acts out. She resents Hannah, who always beats her in spelling bees. But there's more unhappiness in Hannah's life. Her angry father frequently berates and fights with her mother. Once he tried to hit her. Meanwhile, one of Hannah's two best friends, Courtney, has turned away from their friendship and become something of a bully. Only her other friend, Ryan, remains steadfast. Trying to cope with her emotional issues, Hannah gets some support from objects that suddenly, surreally, develop voices: Her favorite stuffed animal, a penny, even a stop sign on the way to school (and others) all offer advice, sometimes taking over the narrative and speaking directly to readers. Whether this is her imagination, emerging mental illness, or an odd literary device remains unclear. A school counselor, Ms. Meghan, whose notes are included, meets with Hannah, but the meetings feel more invasive than helpful. The book subscribes to the white default; brown-skinned Ryan stands out notably as a child of color.Although this unusual tale offers some insight into bullying and family problems, the useful message is somewhat obscured by the perplexing voices. (Fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews