Author | Mary Downing Hahn |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Fiction |
Published | 1986, Clarion Books |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | |
Pages | 184 pages |
ISBN | 0-89919-453-2 |
Wait Till Helen Comes is a 1986 novel by American author Mary Downing Hahn. It was first published on January 1, 1986, through HarperCollins and has since gone through several reprints. The book won a 1989 Young Reader's Choice Award and follows a young girl that must deal with supernatural events that surround her. [1] The book deals with the subjects of death and suicide, which has led some parents to request that the book be removed from school reading lists and school libraries. [2] [3]
Twelve-year-old Molly and her brother Michael resent their new seven-year-old stepsister Heather. Heather's mother died in a house fire when Heather was three, leaving her clingy and possessive of her father Dave and jealous of the attention he gives to his new wife Jean and her children. Heather constantly lies about Molly and Michael to get them in trouble, causing Dave and Jean to mistrust them. The tension compounds when the family moves to a small town deep in the country, forcing Molly and Michael to cancel the summer extracurricular programs they signed up for. Superstitious Molly is also alarmed that their new home is a converted church with an attached graveyard.
While exploring the graveyard, Heather discovers a tombstone under a tree. The dates reveal the grave belongs to a seven-year-old child, but in place of a name are only the initials H.E.H.
Molly finds Heather one night in the ruins of a house near a pond, talking to a ghost child named Helen. Helen disappears when she sees Molly, and Heather threatens revenge on Molly for driving off her new friend Helen. Molly sees Heather wearing an antique silver locket. Heather gloats that Helen gave it to her.
The family returns from a trip to town to find all their personal possessions destroyed, except for items belonging to Heather and Dave. Heather tells Molly that Helen destroyed their belongings and will do anything Heather asks.
Michael and Molly visit the town library and learn that Helen Elizabeth Harper died one hundred years before. Her mother and stepfather died in a fire; Helen escaped the blaze only to panic and run into a nearby pond, where she drowned. Her parents' bodies were never found. The ruined house Molly saw is the remains of Harper House. Other children have drowned there over the years, with many believing that the ghost of Helen lured them in. Molly fears that Helen plans to lure Heather into the pond.
One afternoon Molly returns home to find a note from Dave and Jean saying they went shopping in Baltimore, leaving Heather unsupervised. Fearing she has gone to Harper House, Molly searches the area and finds Helen persuading Heather to join her in the pond. Molly leaps in and pulls out the submerged and unresponsive Heather. Helen tries to drown them both for Molly's interference. Molly tears the locket from Heather's neck and hurls it into the water. Helen releases them to pursue the locket, allowing Molly to drag Heather to shore and resuscitate her. The girls take refuge in the ruins, but the floor collapses beneath them, plunging them into the cellar where they discover the skeletal remains of Helen's mother and stepfather.
A tearful Heather admits that she accidentally started the fire that killed her mother and fears her father will stop loving her if he learns the truth. Helen likewise accidentally started the fire that killed her parents, making her the only person who understood Heather's guilt. Molly assures her that her father will always love her and that she, Michael, and Jean would also love Heather if only she would let them. Helen appears in the cellar and begs her parents' bones to forgive her. Two more ghosts manifest and embrace Helen before the three spirits disappear. Seeing that Helen's parents forgave her, Heather feels hope that she, too, will be forgiven. Hours later, Dave, Jean, and Michael rescue them from the cellar. Heather confesses to her father about the fire, and he forgives her. With Heather's guilt now relieved, the family finally begins to bond.
At summer's end, the remains of Helen's parents are buried under a stone angel with Helen, whose full name Dave engraves upon her marker. While visiting their grave, Heather discovers the locket hanging from the angel's hand, along with a note from Helen asking Heather to remember her. Molly believes it is safe for Heather to keep the locket now that Helen is finally at peace.
On 28 August 2014, actress Sophie Nélisse stated on her Twitter account that she will act in a film adaptation of the book as Molly. She also stated that her sister would act in the film as well. [4] On 12 September 2014, Variety announced that financing and cast were in place and principal photography would commence on the production of a film adaptation of Wait Till Helen Comes. The work would be directed by Dominic James, and would star Maria Bello and the Nélisse sisters. Production was slated to begin later that same month. [5] Principal photography began on 28 September 2014 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Author Mary Downing Hahn appears in the film in a speaking role, mentioning to one of the producers that as a little girl she had always wanted to be an actress in movies. This is the first of her books to be adapted into a feature film. The movie was released in November 2016.
Kirkus Reviews praised the book but commented that it would be a more appealing read for "children comfortable with the genre" as the material in the book was "serious and chilling". [6] Vice reviewed the book from an adult's perspective, stating that while the book's resolution would make sense to a younger reader, that they did not believe that the issues would not be easily solved by talking to the adults, as they believed that Heather's troubles did not solely stem from her keeping a secret. [7]
Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front is a 2006 American made-for-television comedy-drama film. It is the third movie in the American Girl film series, and is based on the Molly: An American Girl book series written by American children's author Valerie Tripp. The first two movies in the series, Samantha: An American Girl Holiday and Felicity: An American Girl Adventure, were broadcast on The WB Television Network. However, following the WB/UPN merger, the series moved to the Disney Channel. The film premiered on the Disney Channel and on DVD from Warner Home Video on November 26, 2006. The film stars Maya Ritter in the titular role, with Molly Ringwald, David Aaron Baker, Tory Green and Genevieve Farrell in supporting roles.
The Princess Diaries is a series of epistolary young adult novels written by Meg Cabot, and is also the title of the first volume, published in 2000. The series spent 48 weeks on the New York Times Children's Series Best Sellers List. The series revolves around Amelia 'Mia' Thermopolis, a teenager in New York who discovers that she is the princess of a small European principality called Genovia. The series follows Mia's life throughout high school in the 2000s and juggling regular teenage life with being a royal princess. The books are noted for containing many pop culture references from the 2000s that influence some of the plot.
The Great Gilly Hopkins is a 1978 realistic children's novel by Katherine Paterson. It won the U.S. National Book Award in 1979. In 2012 it was ranked number 63 among all-time children's novels in a survey published by School Library Journal – the third of three books by Paterson in the top 100.
Ned Nickerson is a fictional character in the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories series written under the collective pseudonym "Carolyn Keene". Ned is often referred to as Nancy Drew's boyfriend. He first appears in The Clue in the Diary, the seventh volume in the series.
The Old Willis Place: A Ghost Story is a children's novel written by Mary Downing Hahn. It was first published in 2004 and is found in 9001 libraries.
Till the End of Time is a 1946 American drama film directed by Edward Dmytryk and starring Dorothy McGuire, Guy Madison, Robert Mitchum, and Bill Williams. Released the same year but preceding the better known The Best Years of Our Lives, it covers much the same topic: the adjustment of World War II veterans to post-war civilian life. It was based on the novel They Dream of Home by Niven Busch ; unlike the soldier, sailor and airman of that film, the male leads in Till the End of Time are all U.S. Marines.
Mary Downing Hahn is an American writer of young adult novels and a former school librarian. She is known for books such as Stepping On The Cracks and Wait Till Helen Comes. She published her first book in 1979 and has since written over 30 novels. Her novel What We Saw was published in September 2022.
Ghost is a musical with book and lyrics by Bruce Joel Rubin and music and lyrics by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard. Based on the hit 1990 romantic fantasy thriller film of the same name, it centres on lovers Sam and Molly, who are attacked as they are returning to their apartment. When Sam dies he becomes caught between the real world and the next. Molly is in danger and Sam cannot leave her. A medium, Oda Mae Brown, helps Sam to get in touch with Molly to warn her.
Deep and Dark and Dangerous is a 2007 children's mystery horror novel written by Mary Downing Hahn. It was first published on May 21, 2007 through Clarion Books and follows a young girl who tries to investigate a torn photograph but gets wrapped up in a larger mystery.
Lauren Oliver is an American author of numerous young adult novels including Panic; the Delirium trilogy: Delirium, Pandemonium, and Requiem; and Before I Fall, which became a major motion picture in 2017. Panic was also turned into a series by Amazon studios. She served as creator, writer and showrunner on the project. Her novels have been translated into more than thirty languages internationally. Oliver is a 2012 E. B. White Read Aloud Award nominee for her middle-grade novel Liesl & Po, as well as author of the middle-grade fantasy novel The Spindlers.
The Bad Seed is a 1985 American made-for-television horror film directed by Paul Wendkos for ABC Television. In the film, freak fatal accidents force a widow to realize her precocious 9-year-old daughter was born to kill. It is based on the 1954 novel by William March and is a remake of the 1956 movie directed by Mervyn LeRoy.
Marie-Sophie Nélisse is a Canadian actress. She is known for her Genie Award–winning performance in Monsieur Lazhar, as Liesel Meminger in the film adaptation of the best-selling novel The Book Thief, written by Markus Zusak, and as Caroline in The Kid Detective. She stars as young Shauna in Showtime's series Yellowjackets.
Mama is a 2013 supernatural horror film directed and co-written by Andy Muschietti in his directorial debut and based on his 2008 Argentine short film Mamá. The film stars Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nélisse, Daniel Kash, and Javier Botet as the title character.
The Woman in Black: Angel of Death is a 2014 supernatural horror film directed by Tom Harper and starring Phoebe Fox, Jeremy Irvine, Helen McCrory, Adrian Rawlins, Leanne Best, and Ned Dennehy. The screenplay was written by Jon Croker from a story by Susan Hill. It is the sequel to the 2012 film The Woman in Black, and is produced by Hammer Film Productions and Entertainment One. During WWII, the London bombings force two schoolteachers to evacuate a group of children to the coastal village of Crythin Gifford. When the refugees take shelter at Eel Marsh House, one teacher, Eve Parkins, soon realizes they are not alone. Little does she know that what lives in the house is more sinister than what they were running from. The film had a premiere in Dubai on December 30, 2014.
The Book Thief is a 2013 war drama film directed by Brian Percival and starring Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, and Sophie Nélisse. The film is based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Markus Zusak and adapted by Michael Petroni. The film is about a young girl living with her adoptive German family during the Nazi era. Taught to read by her kind-hearted foster father, the girl begins "borrowing" books and sharing them with the Jewish refugee being sheltered by her foster parents in their home. The film features a musical score by Oscar-winning composer John Williams.
Avengers Undercover is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics that debuted in March 2014 as part of wave three of the Marvel NOW! relaunch. It serves as a sequel to Avengers Arena, and concluded with September's issue #10.
Wait Till Helen Comes is a 2016 Canadian film directed by Dominic James and written by Victoria Sanchez Mandryk. It is adapted from the book by Mary Downing Hahn. It stars Maria Bello with biological sisters Sophie Nélisse and Isabelle Nélisse, who play stepsisters in the film. The film was released in multiple Canadian cities on 25 November 2016.
Jane Kurtz is an American writer of more than thirty picture books, middle-grade novels, nonfiction, ready-to-reads, and books for educators. A member of the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA in children's and adult literature, Kurtz is an international advocate for literacy and writing. She was also part of a small group of volunteers who organized the not-for-profit organization, Ethiopia Reads, which has established more than seventy libraries for children, published books, and built four schools in rural Ethiopia.
Ghosts is a British sitcom broadcast on BBC One from April 2019 to December 2023. It follows a group of ghosts from different historical periods haunting a country house while sharing it with its new living occupants. It is written and performed by the collective group Them There, who had previously worked together on productions including Horrible Histories and Yonderland.
Isabelle Nélisse is a Canadian actress. The younger sister of actress Sophie Nélisse, she is most noted for her roles in the films Mama, Wait Till Helen Comes and The Tale.