When we first meet Hattie, she is 14 years old living with her only surviving relatives. She had been an orphan for several years, living with an older aunt and her beloved baby brother, but they had recently succumbed to a fever and died. Hattie feels guilty that she survived; not only survived but is now living in luxurious circumstances with her uncle, his wife and daughter, Sophie.

We follow Hattie as she begins to accept her new life, becomes friends with her cousin and starts boarding school. As Sophie's cousin, she becomes part of her little group, now nicknamed The Quartette.

Her close friendship with The Quartette and her habit of follow Sophie's lead becomes jeopardized by the arrival of a new student, Fannie Macintosh, a wild young women from the West with no sense of propriety. In spite of Sophie's disapproval, Hattie becomes drawn to Fannie. Sophie makes it clear that Hattie has to choose and, sadly, Hattie chooses The Quartette.

What follows is Hattie's search for herself, a self that SHE makes, not a Hattie created by Sophie or others. Even as she changes and seeks to rectify mistakes, Hattie finds that the things we do affect others and not always be fixed.

Ms. Warner states that it is based on her great-grandmother's journal but there is disappointingly little of the journal in it, and by the author's own admission there is more fiction than non-fiction.

Finding Hattie is an historical novel most suited for early teens. It is written at a level that should be an easy and enjoyable read for that age group. It is intended to give a fairly good life lesson about the importance of being oneself and being true to ones self, though I was not fully satisfied. However, I am reading it as an adult and though it seemed lukewarm in it's message to me, the other reviews I have seen indicate that the proper aged reader finds it much more enlightening. ( )