Mary Downing Hahn (born December 9, 1937) 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.

Personal life

The daughter of Kenneth Ernest Downing (an automobile mechanic) and Anna Elisabeth Sherwood (a teacher), Mary Downing married William E. Hahn on October 7, 1961. They had two daughters. She married, secondly, to Norman Pearce Jacob (a librarian) on April 23, 1982. She suffered a major stroke at the age of 44.

Books

Awards

State awards

Wait Till Helen Comes (1986) The Doll in the Garden (1989) The Dead Man In Indian Creek (1990) Stepping on the Cracks (1991) Time for Andrew (1994) The Gentleman Outlaw and Me—Eli (1996) The Old Willis Place (2004) Witch Catcher (2006) Deep and Dark and Dangerous (2007) Closed for the Season (2009)