"Hope Was Here" by Joan Bauer

Summary of Hope was Here by Joan Bauer
Addie and Hope travel the country as a cook and a waitress.  Every place they leave, Hope leaves this message; "Hope was here."  Now they are traveling to a small town in Wisconsin, where the cafe owner is dying of leukemia.  When they arrive, the owner announces his political run for mayor which makes him a target of the local corruption that permeates the city government.  He surprises both Addie and Hope by proposing marriage to Addie and adoption of Hope.  He's the nicest man Hope has ever known, but her past makes it difficult for her to trust anyone.  With time Hope lets go of her fears, and enjoys the time she has with her newly formed family.  She now has a permanent home.  Lots of food analogies are found throughout the book. Fun, but has emotional parts as well.

Bauer, J. (2000).  Hope Was Here.  New York, NY:  G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Personal Impressions of Hope Was Here by Bauer
This is a wonderful realistic fiction book!  Real-life problems with humor.  The ending is bittersweet.  I really enjoyed the use of food as a way to help people within the story.  This compliments the theme of the story.  I noticed that the author uses lots of short phrases, similar to how waitresses place orders in to the cook.  But it also made the story flow more like real life, as dialogue and even a good story is not told in complete sentences but should be a reflection of how people really talk.  Really enjoyable!

Review of Hope Was Here by Bauer
"Sixteen year old Hope (formerly called Tulip) knows all about survival, but the latest move she must make with her aunt Addie is calculated to test even her resilience. In Wisconsin, the Welcome Stairways diner awaits Hope, as does its owner, G.T.Stoop, and a cast of characters both noble and nefarious. Hope's is a fresh young voice, and her story is about finding trust in the middle of corruption, optimism in the mayhem of smalltown politics, and faith, above all, in the power of the spirit. Which is good, because when she comes to face the reality of loss, Hope is going to need all the spirit she has and then some. Bauer creates a believable world in this crisplytold tale."
Review by Uma Krishnaswami of Children's Literature and Retrieved from Barnes & Noble.

"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 here--a 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."
Review by Publishers Weekly and Retrieved from Barnes & Noble.

"Another entry in Bauer's growing collection of books about likable and appealing female teenagers with a strong vocational calling. Ivy Breedlove in Backwater (1999) is a historian, Jenna Boller in Rules of the Road (1998) is a talented salesperson, and Hope Yancey's gift is for waitressing. As the novel begins, Hope, 16, and her aunt Addie are about to move from Brooklyn to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, where Addie will manage and cook for a diner called the Welcome Stairways. Hope, whose mother abandoned her as an infant and who has never known her father, is pretty welladjusted, all things considered. She throws herself into her new life in the small town, working on the grassroots mayoral campaign of the diner's owner, quickly acquiring a boyfriend and friends, and proving herself to be a stellar waitress (she's been working in restaurants most of her life, after all, and one of the few things her mother has given her is a list of waitressing tips). Despite having moved so often and having had such inadequate biological parents, Hope isn't afraid to connect to people. The relationship between Hope and G.T., the man who owns the diner and who eventually marries her aunt is especially touching and sweetly portrayed. He's everything Hope ever wished for in a father. It could be said that the occupation of waitressing is overidealized; it's portrayed as the noblest of professions. But the lessons she's learned from the job are essential to Hope's character and a part of why the plot develops as it does. More important, and as always from Bauer, this novel is full of humor, starring a strong and idealistic protagonist, packed with funny lines, and peopledwithinteresting and quirky characters."
Review by Kirkus Reviews and Retrieved from Barnes & Noble.

Suggestions for Use in Library or School
What a great book for demonstrating the political process!  Ask the students to comment on how G.T.  handled his political difficulties.  Did he do the best thing?  Do you have an suggestions?  What were the steps for him to run for office?  Was it wise for him to run as sick as he was?  Why do you think he did it anyway?  What do you think about G.T. as mayor?

Another option; it would be fun to have the students create their own diner menu and name the diner, with an explanation of their choices.