Customer Review - Hope Was Here

Hope Was Here
by Joan Bauer [YA PB Bauer]

Hope. Remember the name. It's important to both the main character and to those whom she meets in the realistic novel Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer. This Newbery Honor book is about sixteen-year-old Hope, who seeks a permanent place to call home. It's also about the townsfolk Hope meets, whot need hope in the face of political corruption. Stories of parent desertion are not uncommon in the world of literature for young people. What sets Hope Was Here apart is the quirky details. For example, Hope is the new legal name chosen by the main character to replace her birth name of Tulip. Hope's mom had seen a movie in which an actress was running happily through a field of tulips. Hope Was Here also contains its own unique twists. For example, after bestowing her daughter with the questionable name of Tulip, Hope's mom made an even more serious choice. She leaves Hope with her older sister, Addie, and then takes off to find her own life. Addie's presence, therefore, provides Hope with a mother figure, something not always seen in the typical parent desertion fare. Political corruption might not seem like an exciting topic. Bauer makes it work because of sympathetic and pivotal characters whom Bauer puts in the campaign arena. Addie has dragged Hope from state-to-state all of her life, seeking stable employment. Now, as Hope turns sixteen, they're headed to a rural diner in Wisconsin where they discover their boss, G.T., is looking for new workers because he's dying of cancer. This medical diagnosis has given G.T. a different perspective on life, including the desire to change his town, which he plans to do by running for mayor. Joan Bauer tends to write about characters who are down on their luck but who serve as positive role models. For example, Hope deliberately chose her name knowing that others would turn to her for a smile and comfort. And she managed to live up to her name even in the face of being deserted and facing job loss. Hope Was Here is a fast-paced and fun story. -- review submitted by Allison H.-F. - a customer of the Bennett Martin Public Library

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