Hope Was Here (2001 Newbery Honor Book) - Softcover

Bauer, Joan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0698119517 ISBN 13: 9780698119512

Publisher: Puffin, 2002

Synopsis

Hope's used to thinking on her feet-she hasn't become a terrific waitress by accident. But when she and her aunt Addie move from New York City to a small town in Wisconsin to run the Welcome Stairways Diner, she isn't sure she'll fit in. Luckily, she doesn't have much time to dwell on it, what with life at the diner and her new home's upcoming election. G.T., the owner of Welcome Stairways, has decided to run for mayor, and no one in town knows what to think. After all, G.T. has leukemia. And his opponent is the current mayor, who hasn't lost an election yet. Some think G.T. is crazy, but Hope sees the goodness and power in him. Will everyone else see it too?

About this title

Review:

Here's a book that's as warm and melty as a grilled Swiss on seven-grain bread, and just as wholesome and substantial. Ever since the boss promoted her from bus girl two and a half years ago when she was 14, Hope has been a waitress--and a darn good one, too. She takes pride in making people happy with good food, as does her aunt Addie, a diner cook extraordinaire. The two of them have been a pair ever since Hope's waitress mother abandoned her as a baby, and now they have come to rural Wisconsin to run the Welcome Stairways café for G.T. Stoop, who is dying of leukemia. But he's not dead yet, as the kindly and greathearted restaurant owner demonstrates when he decides to run for mayor against the wicked and corrupt Eli Millstone.

As old-fashioned goodness lines up against the bad guys, the campaign leads Hope in exciting new directions: a boyfriend who is a great grill man, a new sense of herself and her mission as a waitress, and--when Addie and G.T. finally realize that they are meant for each other--the father she has always wanted. And all of it backed up with stuffed pork tenderloin, butterscotch cream pie, and the rhythm of the short-order dance.

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

About the Author:

In her novels, Joan Bauer explores difficult issues with humour and hope. A New York Times bestselling author, speaker, and songwriter, Joan has won numerous awards for her books, including the Newbery Honour Medal, the American Library Association's Schneider Family Book Award, two Christopher Awards, the LA Times Book Prize, and the Golden Kite Award of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. Joan is a frequent guest on American local and national radio where she talks about the power of resiliency. Through the US Department of State's Professional Speakers Programme she has visited both Kazakhstan and Croatia where she spoke with students, writers, educators, and children at risk about her life and her novels. She lives in New York.

About this edition

• Publisher: Puffin
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0698119517
• ISBN 13: 9780698119512
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 186