Still A Dreamer

Hope certainly was here in this Newbery Award winning YA novel. Hope is 16 and raised by her single aunt, Addie. Hope’s mother, Deena, felt the best thing she could do for her baby was to have her raised by Addie, her sister. Named Tulip at birth, Hope decides to legally change her name at 12, often wondering if she can live up to her new name.
Addie and Hope have moved several times across the U.S., Addie following needed jobs as a short order cook in diners, and Hope, a young but experienced waitress, repeatedly having to leave the friends she’s made. Hope longs to one day know her father who she wants to believe is trying to find her, while Deena occasionally shows up in her life.
The story begins with Addie and Hope arriving in Mulhoney, a Wisconsin dairy town, to run the diner for the owner who has been stricken with leukemia. Hope Was Here is about hope for so many things, not just in Hope’s own life, but in the lives of those around her … in a man hoping to go into remission who runs for office to defeat a corrupt system; in the hope that good will prevail in this small town; that the undercurrent of love that streams through so many of the characters will prove, not only that love can prevail, but that hope is worth holding on to. Much of the story’s action takes place in and around the diner, where the customers and dishes Addie whips up serve as a colorful backdrop.
Life changing experiences abound for every character in Hope Was Here, in a can’t-put-down tale, that not only manages to beautifully explore relationships, but amazingly, also weaves in politics and the difference that teenagers can make in influencing their and others’ lives. The food served up by Addie in the diner may have you wanting to find something in your fridge, but Hope’s story will have you sitting, smiling, and definitely believing in the value of hope.