[.ca] Hope Was Here (ISBN 0698119517)

From Amazon.com:
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

Hope was Here:
Hope is the main character in the story. She has curly, chestnut hair, and blue eyes. She is a thoughtful girl that is full of spunk. Although her real name is Tulip, she legally changed it to Hope. Her mom is Deena, a boy crazy woman that left her daughter. Deena changes her looks often. Sometimes she'll show up with red hair, then the next day she'll have black. Hope lives with her aunt, Addie. She is a very nice aunt and takes care of Hope as if she was her own daughter. Addie is a splendid cook, although the restaurants she's cooked for have gone out of business. Gleason Beal is the night manager at the old restaurant Addie and Hope used to work at. He stole all the money and ran away with Charlene, a waitress. G.T. was the head cook at Welcome Stairways. G.T. then hired Addie to replace him, so he could run for mayor. G.T. is a nice guy, but unfortunately has Leukemia. G.T. has a sense of humor and lots of friends. He later runs for mayor. Braverman is assistant cook at Welcome Stairways. Braverman graduated from high school last year, and is earning money to go to college. He and Hope kiss later. Florence is a waiter. She is nice, and very aware. Another waiter is Lou Ellen. She is a grouchy and mean. She is jealous at Hope because Hope got the job so easily, and she had to work for a year to get it. She later becomes good friends with Hope. Eli Millstone is the mayor. He runs many local dairies out of business and replaces them with Real Fresh Dairy. He hasn't made Real Fresh Dairy pay taxes for a year. There are two protagonists in this story; Hope and G.T. They are both nice and caring. Hope does lots of nice little things. She helped Braverman when he got beat up, and she also helps out at the diner. Hope always tries her best. G.T. is nice because he is considerate and caring for people, and tries to make things better. The antagonists are Gleason Beal and Eli Millstone. Gleason Beal stole all of Addie and Hope's money. Eli is bad because he lied about G.T. conditions, and he lied to the whole town about the Real Fresh Dairy. Eli also paid people to do bad things. The plot of this book is Deena leaves Hope with Addie. They work for a restaurant until Gleason Beal steals all of their money and runs off with the night waitress. Then Addie and Hope have to close the restaurant and move to Wisconsin. They meet all the people who work at Welcome Stairways. Then G.T. announces he's running for mayor against Eli Millstone. Eli Millstone has been mayor for four years. Then Braverman, Hope, and many other teenagers set off to get signatures. They need to get enough to get on the ballot. They don't have enough signatures to make the ballot. They go to the election ballot and convince them to reconsider and give them in till 5:00 that night (eight hours). So they hurry and get as many signatures as possible. They make the ballot. Next four burglaries occur. All happen to members of G.T.'s campaign. Braverman gets beat up by three kids in an alley. G.T. gets a fever and has to stay inside. Deena comes for a visit. She has black hair this time. Later that week G.T. asks Addie out for dinner. She accepts. Then Braverman and Hope have a dinner together and kiss. Everyone finds out that G.T.'s cancer is in remission, they are all very happy until Eli lies and says G.T. is about to die. People no longer believe G.T. He loses the election by 144 votes. Hope finds out Eli paid the election board to list all of the voters that didn't vote and said they voted for him. Eli gives up and leaves. G.T. is now mayor and he does lots of good things for Mulhoney. Later G.T. proposes to Addie and she accepts. G.T. asks Hope to be his daughter. The cancer then comes back and G.T. dies. Addie and Hope keep the restaurant running. I think the climax was when Hope found out some of the signatures on the ballot were fake. Then you feel there was still some chance for G.T. to win. The conflict of this story is that G.T. is running for mayor, and people are afraid to vote for him because he has cancer. They think that if he is elected mayor he'll die because of the cancer. The way the conflict is solved because the people of Mulhoney realize that Eli is a crook, and G.T. would be the best mayor. The point of view in this story is first person. It is told by Hope. The setting is in Mulhoney, Wisconsin. The time period is around the twenty-first century. The theme is: if you believe, and stand up for what you believe in, anything is possible. I liked this story. I liked it because it had two questions that lingered throughout the story: will G.T. survive cancer? Will he win, and become mayor? It also had a sad touch to it when Hope's mom leaves her, and doesn't know anything about what her daughter is really like. It also is sad when G.T. dies. He dies just when Hope is starting to have a bound with G.T. as her dad. It also has suspense in it. When you find out that Eli lied about the votes, and there's still hope that G.T. can win. That's the kind of story I like. I like a story with a lingering questions, a couple of sad parts, and suspense.

Hope for YA Books Was Here:
As a reader who is no longer within the "age demographic" that is targeted by this book, I read YA novels because I have found that behind the deceptively simple writing, there is often as much--if not more--depth than can be found in the "adult" section (Pornography is "adult"...need I say more?). Ellen Raskin, Robin McKinley, and the inimitable Lloyd Alexander are only a few of the authors who have written YA books that made such an impact that they have undergone numerous reprints and still enjoy wide popularity years after they were written. Those who turn up their noses at such "teen" fare are missing a rare opportunity. When I encountered "Hope Was Here," the first thing I noticed was that it was a Newbery Honor Book. This led me to believe that Joan Bauer had written a book on par with the very best of YA fiction; unfortunately, what I instead discovered is that a wonderfully told story is no longer the standard by which these books are judged. Instead, awards are given to books that are thought to teach some valuable moral lesson; moreover, that lesson must be within the earnest guidelines of current (for it is ever-changing) political correctness. Characters and plot can fall to the wayside. The message is all that matters. And indeed, plot and character fall to the wayside very quickly. Part of what helps to define a character is motivations, and we are never given to understand what exactly motivates Hope, a newcomer to the town, to jump instantly and with profound devotion onto G.T.'s political bandwagon. She has not been living in the town: she has only just met him, and the issues he addresses in his speech have no personal resonance for her as a newcomer. Yet this does not faze her for one moment. Never once does she question her own devotion, or wonder how she was swept up in this political ardor with such speed. Hope is willing to sacrifice her own safety to elect G.T., yet we are given no indication why. The character begins to be lost at that moment, and it's all downhill from there. The other characters are cardboard cutouts, and depressingly predictable. There's the Saint, the Handsome Teen Love Interest, and the Perfect Caretaker/Gruff Cook. Seriously. The bad guys are unremittingly evil, so much so that anyone who is planning to vote for them can only be thought idiots or evil themselves. There are no shades of gray in Hope's world, or, apparently, in Bauer's political field of vision. We know Eli Millstone is a Big Evil conservative oppressing the simple people in favor of a massive corporation, and G.T. is the good-hearted liberal whose motives are pure as the driven. Children will therefore not learn the realities and complexities of politics, because the message of this book is a good-versus-evil fantasy that leaves no room for subtleties or moral questions. All such weighty matters aside, this book does not even deliver on the basic requirements for a good read: plot and characterization. Every phase of the plot, from the couplings to the incessant triumphs of good over evil, is apparent long before it has happened. The characters never surprise us. The writing is decent, and Hope's backstory is more interesting than the one she is currently in. In keeping with the lack of moral complexity that pervades this book, Hope is perfect: she never gets angry, and everyone in the restaurant adores her. She understands that life is hard and has all the answers already, at sixteen. The book is strung together with numerous disparate moments, many of which are clearly meant to be "sweet," but because of their lack of real context, end up being saccharine. We have to care for the moment to matter. On the other hand, there is something almost cinematic about the story's structure, with its clear-cut characters, quirky townspeople, and black-and-white cookie sweetness. While I don't think "Hope" has succeeded (artistically) as a book, it may yet succeed as a movie.

Courtesy of Teens Read Too:
HOPE WAS HERE is a brilliant book by an equally brilliant author, Joan Bauer. When I read this book for the first time (my copy is worn; I've read it so often!), I was an instant fan of the author. HOPE WAS HERE is worth your time, worth your money, and worth anything else that you have to do to get your hands on this book. Hope is a sixteen-year-old waitress who has lived all across America with her Aunt Addie. Hope's mother (who, upon seeing her tiny baby for the first time, named her Marigold, of all things. Addie's twelfth birthday present to her niece was a name change.) has long been out of the picture, visiting only occasionally with tidbits of advice. Waitressing at the diner in Brooklyn was great for Hope, but, like all good things, it comes to an end. The owner stole all of the money and ran off, leaving Addie and Hope with nothing. The two of them boarded up the windows, and, just before driving off, Hope left her mark: Hope Was Here, in blue ballpoint pen at the edge of one of the boards. Addie and Hope are off to a small town in Wisconsin. When they get there, they meet G.T., the owner of the local diner where Addie will be cooking and Hope will be waitressing. G.T is a man the town loves, and he's going to run for mayor and change things. The current mayor, a scheming, dishonest typical politician, isn't standing for that, though. He's got to bring up how G.T. has leukemia, and is dying. How, he says, can a man who is dying take care of an entire town? He might not be alive in a few months. G.T. isn't alone, though. Hope, Addie, and countless others are trying to get him elected, so that he can do some good for the town. Even though things are hard, they've still got to have hope. This novel is amazing. HOPE WAS HERE is a book that you will not read only once, but over and over. It sticks with you. Part of this is due to the well thought-out characters, especially Hope. She is a strong character, but also a strong person. She's been through a lot, and she's still around, serving up food to hungry customers. Her waitressing jobs have a lot to do with who Hope is. Maybe to some people (you know the type--not good enough unless you've got a diploma from Harvard), waitressing seems like a dead-end job, but this book shows different sides of it. HOPE WAS HERE is a page-turner that will keep you riveted from the first word (which happens to be "somehow"), to the last ("had"), and when it's over, you'll want more. Luckily for us, Joan Bauer has written several other books for young adults, including BACKWATER, RULES OF THE ROAD, and SQUASHED. They're just as good as HOPE WAS HERE, too, and that's saying something! Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce

Breathtakingly Real:
I suppose I can relate to this book, which is why I recommend it and why I enjoy it so much. Hope Was Here is about waitressing and politics. When put together in the same sentence you might think, "Well, that's an odd combination." But in this book, that's a theme-- unlikely but fantastic combinations. I'm a 15 year old girl who waitresses for my family business and I know how it feels to be in the food service business. Joan Bauer describes it perfectly and in an exciting way that I've never thought about before. This story is so heartbreakingly real it will make you smile and laugh, frown and cry. I read another review about how it was about an abnormal family. Except this reader thought it was a bad thing. But that's what makes this book truly beautiful. If you think about it... "average families" are dwindling. But that doesn't mean that real love is too. A family is not a clear definition. Things go wrong. And this is what Joan Bauer's book is about. Things going wrong but hoping for the best to come your way, regardless. This is an uplifting read that I strongly recommend for teenagers and adults alike. You can learn a lot from it... as well as some great waitressing tips.

A Must READ:
I love this book it is one of my all time favorites... its one of those books that just hooks u and u dont know why this book is so inspiring i wish i had a billion copies that i could just hand them out to ppl... i cried and laughed and all of that jazz with this book... this book can relate to everyone in some way all u have to do is read the chapter and you'll find the hook!!!