For Older Readers
 Wish on a Unicorn |
 Letters from Rifka |
 Phoenix Rising |
 A Time of Angels |
 The Music of Dolphins |
 Out of the Dust |
 A Light in the Storm |
 Stowaway |
 Witness |
 Aleutian Sparrow |
 The Stone Lamp |
 Brooklyn Bridge |
 Safekeeping |
For Younger Readers
 Poppy’s Chair |
 Lester’s Dog |
 Lavender |
 Sable |
 Just Juice |
 Come On, Rain! |
 The Cats in Krasinski Square |
 The Young Hans Christian Andersen |
 Spuds |
 My Thumb |
 Night Job |
Granny and Bean |
Short Story, Video, Biography
 When I Was Your Age, Volume 2 |
 What You Wish For |
Tim Podell Productions Interview with Karen Hesse |  Karen Hesse by Rosemary Oliphant-Ingham |
| An Interview with Karen Hesse about Brooklyn Bridge |
karenhesseblog 
Hi my name is Aryss lindsey and I’m a 6th grader that goes to Murray Hill middle school . My English class is reading Out of the Dust your book is wonderful.I have one question can you explain experience that most likely if you influence you to become a writer? Thanks!
Thank you for your kind comment, Aryss. I will attempt to answer your question in an upcoming blog post.
Karen Hesse, I am a student from West Fork Middle School and in my Language Arts class we are about to read your book Letters From Rifka, even though I have not yet read your book, I can tell our class is going to love your it.
Thank you for taking the time to visit and leave a comment, Emily. Enjoy your reading. Best wishes, Karen Hesse
Our class is currently on an immigration unit, and to go along with this unit we are going to read Letters From Rifka. We are doing a small author search on you, and while in doing so we were granted access to ask you a short question. Do you have any Jewish family members?
Yes, I do, Hannah. I hope you and your class enjoy this unit. It should be fascinating. Be sure to ask your family about their stories.
My father is a 7th grade Reading/English/Language Arts teacher. Often times I rummage through his school library to find a book that I think sounds interesting. I have ready several of your books, but love Phoenix Rising. As a student in College, I chose to re-read that book and create a webquest assignment for a class. Needless to say, I am a huge fan. Is it possible for me to get an autographed picture of you. I would love to give it to my father so that he can put it in his classroom, hopefully to inspire others to read more.
Dear Brooke, Thank you for sharing this. What a wonderful relationship you have with your father. And how happy it makes me to know of him and his work. I’m delighted, too, to know your favorite is PHOENIX RISING. That was a particularly challenging book to write and one I don’t often hear about from readers. Please send a SASE to: Karen Hesse, 35 Chapin Street, Brattleboro, Vermont 05301 with your father’s name and your request and I’ll take care of getting a photo to you. All best wishes, Karen Hesse
Thank you so very much!
You are very welcome.
Do Ilya and Pieter mean something to your aunt or to someone else?
Thank you for your question, Mary. The character of Ilya is based on a real child my aunt encountered at Ellis Island.
Pieter’s character was invented so I could include the detail about the deck being scrubbed in the way I described. When my aunt shared this detail with me I knew I had to include it in the book. But I couldn’t just stick it in. Pieter’s role grew from those brushes on the bottoms of his shoes into something quite pivotal to Rifka’s emotional journey. Isn’t it amazing how a simple piece of information gathered during the research can have such a profound effect on the course of the book?
We just read your book, Letters From Rifka, in our 7th grade reading class. I was very moved by it. I love how the story was told in the form of letters. I thought it was very clever just like Rifka and her cousin, Tovah. Is there a specific reason you chose the poems of Alexander Pushkin instead of another poet?
Brecklyn, thank you for your comment. Have a quick look at Pushkin’s biography and see if you can figure out why I might have chosen his poems instead of the work of another poet. -Karen Hesse
I just read Out of the Dust — great poetry and great sense of the times. Where did you get your stories? (I am a dust bowl historian and poet)
Thank you for your comment, Alvin. I spent about a year reading and researching. Many of the stories come from the newspapers published in that region during that time period. Best wishes, Karen Hesse
Hi My name is Airiez Hernandez I am a student at Westfield middle school and my class read the book witness and The ending of the book witness seem a little bit unfair and I know your doing this to make theories as an author but that annoyed me because Johnny reeves isn’t dead and Merlin should still be scared
Thank you for your comment, Airiez. I didn’t end WITNESS that way to be coy. In my mind it is very clear what happened to each character. It fascinates me to listen to readers and their diverse opinions and their arguments to support their conclusions. My feeling remains that the reader co-creates the book with the author and regardless of what I intended when I wrote the book, your experience of the book and your interpretation are correct for you.
Thanks Karen for responding to it so quickly and taking time out of your day to write directly to me
Thank you, Airiez. It’s rare for readers to acknowledge the time I put into answering their questions. I very much appreciate your doing so. -KH
I am back in VT after many years in Baltimore! I was a school librarian at the Gilman School, Mercy High School and ACCE in the city. I am now at Manchester Elementary Middle School for interim library position. Would you be interested in speaking with our 8th graders about dust bowl themes?
Hello Cindy, I spoke at Gilman many years ago and had a wonderful experience there. Welcome back to Vermont. I wish I had better news for you but I rarely do speaking engagements anymore. I am so grateful for your support but I’m afraid I will have to decline. With all best wishes, Karen Hesse