Hope Was Here

Plot Summary

Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer is a Newbery Honor Book that tells the story of sixteen-year-old Hope. Hope who lives with her aunt is about to embark on a new adventure. Both Hope and her aunt move from Brooklyn, New York to Mulhoney, Wisconsin where they will work in a diner. Her aunt has accepted the position of managing the diner. In the story they become involved with diner owner's political campaign. Hope becomes a terrific waitress and falls in love with a boy from the diner. Throughout the story Hope finds a voice, love, and a father. I thought this book was wonderful. It is a beautiful story about perseverance, abandonment, love and loss, and hope. This is a great book for young teens. I think this book would be great for a book talk and also to discuss important themes such as families, challenges and triumphs, the individual vs. society, and friends.

Reviews
" Joan Bauer, who won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Rules of the Road, has served up a delicious novel in Hope was Here, full of delectable characters, tasty wit, and deep-dish truth. ( Ages 12 and older)- Patty Campbell, Publisher's Weekly

"Like Bauer's other heroines, Hope is a typical teenage girl who works hard, excels at her part-time job, and plans for her future. The adults around her, though mostly one-dimensional, together create a microcosm of society--the best and the worst of a teenager's support system. It's Bauer's humor that supplies, in Addie's cooking vernacular, the yeast that makes the story rise above the rest, reinforcing the substantive issues of honesty, humanity, and the importance of political activism. Serve this up to teens--with a dash of hope.- Frances Bradburn, Booklist