Be Ever Hopeful, Hannalee is told in the first person by the main character, Hannalee. She uses some of the slang of her time, in a dialect that would belong to an illiterate working-class person of her day. This dialect varies only slightly from the upper-class and black dialects in the novel, primarily because most of the story has to be in modern enough English that modern readers can understand what is being said. Still, Beatty goes out of her way to point out that she has made some distinctions in dialect by noting that Northerners say "madam" rather than "ma'am."

The outstanding characterization of this novel makes it a worthy work of literature. Hannalee interacts with several memorable characters, with several developed well enough to be nearly as fully rounded as Hannalee. Beatty does a good job of exploring Hannalee's thoughts and reactions. Her ignorance...