Hannah Powers began her academic career at Sippican Elementary School in Old Rochester Regional School District, MA. Hannah’s mother said her daughter “wasn’t interested in learning to read” as she began Reading Recovery lessons taught by Kelly Kelleher.

“When I think of Hannah, I remember a very conscientious, thoughtful little girl, who adored animals, especially horses,” Kelleher said. “It was her love of animals that allowed me to tap interest for book selection and writing topics. Since writing was a strength for Hannah, we capitalized on this strength to develop a reciprocal relationship between reading and writing.”

Now a freshman at Old Rochester Regional High School, Hannah is a published author of a 23,000-word novel. She wrote the book while in the Minecraft Club, an after school program where members participated in National Novel Writing Month. Hannah and her book were featured in a September article in the local paper. Hannah’s book, Night and Day, was published as she completed 8th grade last year. When Hannah’s mother told her the book was available on Amazon, she said, “How come, mom? All I wanted was to get five free copies so I could lend them to my friends.”

Current photo courtesy of Chris Reagle/GateHouse Media New England