Stay a Little Longer

Book excerpt: Fifth-grade teacher Hannah Dillon is content to Stay a Little Longer in the old-fashioned, country life of Allentown, Vermont. She lives on a dairy farm with her mother. Her grandmother, a mystery in the quiet, little town, lives down the road. Not even Hannah or her mother know from whence she came. Sara Farnum, Hannah's best friend, now teaching in Cambridge, Massachusetts, eventually convinces Hannah to apply for a position at her elementary school. Hannah is accepted but finds the Boston area disturbing for its lack of moral fiber and fast-changing educational concepts and values. Sara tries to help Hannah adjust and introduces her to Greg MacIntosh, a fellow student in her evening class at Harvard. Greg soon plays an important role in Hannah's life. When a collision with violence in Boston coincides with tragedy in Vermont, Hannah chooses to remain in Allentown, willing to accept there is no longer need for her kind of teacher. Also, she is determined to reject galloping technology and keep the twentieth century in her life a little longer. The mystery of Hannah's grandmother will be revealed, and you'll learn how Greg, a diary, and a phantom help Hannah overcome her disenchantment if you Stay a Little Longer in the charming life of bygone years awakened on the pages of this heartwarming novel by Nancy Desrosiers.