Judges:

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There is poetry and philosophy here the way they should be used in fiction, as underground streams. Lovely, intelligent writing, and very entertaining.

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Hannah’s Voice is distinctive and clear. Her description of life with her mother is sharp and defined, her memories of her father, poignant. The writing is exceptionally strong and descriptive. The traumatic incident described is a culmination of Hannah’s experience in her short life, and the fact that she refuses to talk makes sense. As she says, saying it again won’t make it any truer.

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Her self-imposed silence, like that of the protagonist of Gunther Glass’s Tin Drum, embodies protest against what she doesn’t believe in. There are weighty issues at stake here, and the author handles them deftly and with skill. The mother’s portrayal is chilling.

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There’s not a wasted word, or an excessive word. Every word is in service to the story. The piece is as tight as a short story. And that is always high accomplishment.

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Readers:

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I loved the author’s voice…the atmosphere he evoked in this story, the setting, the storyline and, perhaps most of all, his impressive ability to climb into the head of a young girl and bring her to life with utter conviction.

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I was enthralled. Right from the start, the author managed to capture perfectly the voice of a young girl in his first person narrative. The writing is tight and the descriptions exactly the way a child of six would see her world.

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This story has such an amazing and unique appeal. It rings the bell of every emotion. You will love the characters, the story, the very unique point of view of a young girl whose core belief in The Truth compels her to stop talking, causing the whole world to listen to what they want to hear.

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It grabbed from the first, and then it just got better and better. … will have to keep my eye on this author.

By the end of the first chapter, Hannah became a living, breathing child, whispering her story in my ear with her soft, Southern drawl. … amazing ability to turn his stories into movies that play before my mind’s eye.

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From the very first page, I was completely drawn into this. The writing is nothing less than masterful! Amazing. A very unique premise to the story is enough to draw my interest, but the writing! I have a very strong sense of the characters and FEEL for them. Robb Grindstaff’s words are so carefully crafted and give a wealth of information in even the smallest comment. He truly has that ever-sought-after “unique author voice” that publishers crave and readers adore.

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Hannah’s Voice gripped me from the first few words. What a strong and compelling voice. Never before has the voice of a child come across in such a way. I was immediately drawn into the story and stayed there. If this in any way shows Robb’s depth as a writer, we all can look forward to future works by this amazing writer.

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