Hope Was Here - Hardcover

Bauer, Joan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399231420 ISBN 13: 9780399231421

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, 2000

Synopsis

Readers fell in love with teenage waitress Hope Yancey when Joan Bauer’s Newbery Honor–winning novel was published ten years ago. Now, with a terrific new jacket and note from the author, Hope’s story will inspire a new group of teen readers.

About this title

About the Author

Joan Bauer is the critically acclaimed author of numerous young adult novels, including Rules of the Road (recipient of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize), Best Foot Forward and Peeled. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews

Grade 8 Up-When it comes to creating strong, independent, and funny teenaged female characters, Bauer is in a class by herself and the 16-year-old waitress in this book is no exception. Hope Yancey and her Aunt Addie, a much-sought-after diner cook, have toured the country, one diner at a time. With each move, the teen leaves her mark, "HOPE WAS HERE," in ballpoint pen somewhere on the premises. Now in Mulhoney, WI, she has no idea that the residents of this small town will make their mark on her. G. T. Stoop, the Quaker owner of the Welcome Stairways, has leukemia, and while the disease can keep him from running the diner he loves, it can't keep him from running for mayor against a corrupt incumbent. Taking part in his campaign allows Hope to get to know Braverman, a fellow worker at the Welcome Stairways and G. T.'s greatest supporter. The mix of dealing with illness, small-town politics, and budding romance for both Hope and Addie is one that will entertain and inspire readers. Bauer tells a fast-paced, multilayered story with humor but does not gloss over the struggle of someone who is unable to trust, someone who has been left before, and who avoids getting close to anyone for fear of being left again. Teens who have come to expect witty, realistic characters and atypical (but very funny) story lines from Bauer's previous books will not be disappointed and new readers will be sure to come back for seconds.
Tracey Firestone, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Bauer (Rules of the Road; Squashed) serves up agreeable fare in this tale of a teenage waitress's search for a sense of belonging. Sixteen-year-old Hope has grown used to the nomadic life she has built with her aunt Addie, a talented diner cook. She doesn't mind the hard work it takes to make a diner hum; she seems to have inherited a knack for waiting tables from the free-spirit mom (Addie's younger sister) who abandoned her years ago. But Hope would gladly give up always having to say good-bye to friends and places she loves. When Addie accepts a new job that takes the pair from Brooklyn to the Welcome Stairways diner in Mulhoney, Wis., Hope never could have imagined the big changes ahead of her. She and Addie shine in the small-town milieu and gladly offer to help diner owner G.T. Stoop, who is battling leukemia, run for mayor. Along the way, Addie and Hope both find love, and Hope discovers the father figure she has so desperately wanted. Readers will recognize many of Bauer's hallmarks hereAa strong female protagonist on the road to self-discovery, quirky characters, dysfunctional families, a swiftly moving story, moments of bright humor. Her vivid prose, often rich in metaphor (e.g., Hope's description of the Brooklyn diner: "The big, oval counter... sat in the middle of the place like the center ring in a circus"), brings Hope's surroundings and her emotions to life. The author resolves a few of her plot points a bit too tidily, but her fans won't mind. They're likely to gobble this up like so much comfort food. Ages 12-up. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 7-9. Ever since her mother left, Hope has, with her comfort-food-cooking aunt Addie, been serving up the best in diner food from Pensacola to New York City. Moving has been tough, so it comes as a surprise to 16-year-old Hope that rural Wisconsin, where she and her aunt have now settled, offers more excitement, friendship, and even romance (for both Hope and Addie) than the big city. In this story, Bauer has recycled some charming devices from her popular Rules of the Road (1998) : Jenna's road rules have become the Best-of-Mom tips for waitressing; the disappearing parent is Hope's irresponsible mom; and the villains are politicians, not corporate America. 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
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0399231420
• ISBN 13: 9780399231421
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192