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Summary: Hope was here is totally awesome !!!!
Review: Of all the books I have ever read, Hope Was Here is probably one of the very best ones. I liked this book for many reasons. It was sort of a mystery but it was also a comedy. It is also very intresting. It kept my attention the whole time I was reading it. Hope Was Here is about a girl named Hope who is a waitress. she has moved to wisconsin with her aunt. She meets the owner of the reusturaunt she works at (who has leukemia) and he wants to run for mayor. Will he become mayor?Will he die? Read the book and find out!
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Summary: You can't go wrong with a book by Joan Bauer...
Review: Ever since Hope's mother abandoned her as a baby she has followed her Aunt Addie around the country. Hope longs for a permanent home, however, she and her aunt, who is an unbelievable cook, go where the jobs and the money are. Their latest move is to the small town of Mulhoney, Wisconsin. Hope does not want to leave the greatest diner in Brooklyn, but she says good-bye to New York by leaving her usual calling card: "Hope Was Here" written in half-inch tall letters on one of the boards in the diner. To her surprise though Hope does find a lot of hope in Mulhoney as she fights corrupt small-town politics and struggles with her aunt to be successful in the restaurant business. I loved this novel not because Joan Bauer is a wonderful storyteller (which she is), but because of both the humor and realness of Hope. She was a character that I quickly grew to love. Another wonderful book by Joan Bauer.
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Summary: Another Great Success
Review: Hope Was Here is one of Joan Bauer's greatest successes yet. Rules of the Road and Squashed aslo qualify for this category. One thing that is admirable about Bauer's books is that you don't just hear about the main characters day at work, you live it. Little bits of waitressing wisdom are scattered throughout the book. This is a unique quality, you learn about whatever the protagonist is passionate about; you know it, and learn to love it as they do. When I finished the book, I felt like I could walk into any restaurant, and get a waitressing job, hands down. Hope Was Here also contains many wonderful characters: Hope, Addie, GT Stoop, and of course Eli. I've been in a reading slump lately, but I couldn't put this one down. Not for the life of me. A very good read, and check out Joan Bauer's other books if you haven't already.
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Summary: An Ispirational Novel
Review: Did you ever read a book that you could't stop reading it? Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer, is this kind of book. I think that this is one of those books because it gets better, and better every time you turn the page. Hope is a shy, adventurous adolescent who has an unusual life. She and her Aunt Addie, travel a olt, like tuorist, they visit lots of places but never stay anywhere for than a year. This book is a contemporary realistic fiction. I think whoever likes contemporary realistic fiction would love to read this fantastic book. They would like to read this book because it has som realistic things that could possibly be true. For example there are some teens that can relate to Hope, I know that I do, cause I don't live with my father too, and she also doesn't either. Most teens like Hope would want to read this book because, the characters are really similar to some people.
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Summary: HOPE is here now!
Review: Like most reviews, this one is late. In our world with so many complex problems, what is one late book review? What could I possibly give you, the reader, that would make any difference in your life? Ah.....maybe one thing. A tip on hope. Although HOPE WAS HERE was designed for young adult readers, it abounds with hope for all who read it. And, you have to admit it, we all need hope. There are a lot of stories out there for young readers today. Some stories sling the hash, others sling the bull. But at the end of a long day would you rather have something that sticks to your ribs or to the bottom of your shoes? This story sticks with you like good food and gives you that well-being feeling of a rush of endorphins. The author, Joan Bauer, isn't like many short-visioned writers churning out garbage for young minds. She entices the young reader with real people, real pain, and real hope. Bauer weaves her plots with a high-energy girl named Hope who offers "full-service waitressing" mixed with common sense, honesty, and solid restraurant philosophy. Hope is a rejected transplant with only one constant relationship in her life. Using that as a seed of hope, and watered with the intrigue of dirty-play politics, Bauer gives us a must-finish story. When you've finished, you realize you have been in the presence of "do the right thing, no matter who opposes you" kind of people. People of character, morals, and truth. Meet the restrautant owner fighting for his life and community fairness; the young cook who rates at least an 7.4 and rising on the male cuteness scale; the faithful aunt who subs as a mom and cooks with professional creative flair, and the gang of school kids who actually make a difference in their town. Oh, there are plenty of antagonists, too, who play their sinister roles. We see them in this little Wisconsin dairy town fashioned as a microcosm for the self-serving politics of any town or nation. If you are asking if there is any help, trust, or truth left to maintain our freedoms, you will find this a great text book. But wait, this is for young readers not flag wavers or bible thumpers. My point exactly! Just when you've given up on how to serve good food to kids without them knowing it, this book comes along and hope come with it. It welcomes the reader like twin "Welcome Stairways." They remind you that no matter where you are coming from or what you we seek in a book, you leave blessed for the time spent. Like a great engrossing movie that makes you unaware of the actors acting, Bauer's writing skills make us forget that this is fiction. This makes the reader delight in being part of Hope's life. We get a taste of the food service trade with funny but thoughtful rules of professional waitnessing. We get the common sense of survival through a free verse poem straight from a heart of a teenager's pain. We get clever one liners worth remembering.........."a B-minus in Grief," "a creaking door of friendship opening," and the "sweet snyergy of food service." Oh, and don't forget the hearse outside ready to cart us away - reminding us to make the days count. So it is all here: great touchable characters kids and adults can relate to, an intriguing plot for today's times, humor that takes the edge off reality's pain, and a crafted style of writing that gives young adults books a new standard of measure. Oh, and let's not forget that books for young people are more than primers, they help shape moral development that schools and parents say we need, but forget to teach. Well, the first election of the century is almost here. Politics, being what is, needs thoughtful voters. Vote, but read this book first. Pick up a copy soon......for HOPE WAS HERE is NOW here at your local book stores. You'll thank me for taking my advice. You'll thank Joan Bauer for her creative talents reminding us all not to give up but to do our part because HOPE is here now.
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Summary: The best Bauer yet!
Review: Bauer is one of my favorite authors, so I snatched this one up as soon as I found it. It is definitely my favorite so far. Hope and her aunt leave Brooklyn to travel to a small town in Wisconsin. There they will help GT, owner of the Welcome Stairways Diner, who is suffering from leukemia. He surprises everyone in town by announcing his candidacy for mayor. Many won't support him due to his illness, but Hope and many of the town's teenagers rally behind him in an attempt to oust the corrupt town leaders. Bauer's trademark humor and Hope's feistiness makes this book a joy to read!
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Summary: Hope for YA Books Was Here
Review: 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.
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Summary: Hope was Here
Review: Hope Was Here Hope; to cherish a desire with expectation of fulfillment. How would you like to move from state to state, with your aunt, because your mom couldn't find it in her to take care of you? How about joining a fifty-four year old man diagnosed with leukemia on his campaign to be mayor? That doesn't sound like a dream to me, but for Hope Yancey, that's life. Hope grew up as Tulip Yancey in South Carolina, and moved across the country until she found herself in Mulhoney, Wisconsin, helping G.T., the owner of the restaurant where she works, to get 200 signatures on his petition to added to the voting ballot. But he's up against a tough competitor, Eli Millstone, the previous mayor of Mulhoney, who will lie and cheat, and even go as far as to steal and hire thugs to beat up the members of G.T.'s party to win.
This book really pulls you in because of the way the author intertwined excitement, struggles, grief, and hope, of course, into one emotion packed Newbery award-winning story. You'll follow Hope and her friends everywhere, and hang onto Bauer's every word.
Kids of all ages will love this book, but teens in particular-especially ones who are still finding out what they want to be, and who they are.
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Summary: Hope Was Here A review by: Katie Feely
Review: If you are looking for a great book, read Hope Was Here by: Joan Bauer. I really enjoyed the book because you can relate to all of the obstacles teenagers have to overcome. The book is about a teenage girl who has to overcome several obstacles in her life. Her mother abandoned her, and she has never met her father. She lives with her aunt, Addie. They have to move to Mulhoney, Wisconsin after Addie's boyfriend robs them.
In Mulhoney, Addie is cooks and Hope waitresses at the Welcome Stairways. Hope isn't having good luck in Mulhoney, either. One of the other waitresses, Lou Ellen, is jealous of her, she doesn't have any friends, and she doesn't want to make the transition from living in a big city to living in a small town. Just when things are beginning to look awful, things make a turn for the best.
She meets Gt Stoop, a cook and the owner of the Welcome Stairways. Even though he has leukemia, he is energetic and full of life. When he decides to run for mayor, Hope helps campaign for him. If you would like to find out more, read Hope Was Here by: Joan Bauer.
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Summary: Hope Was Here
Review: This was not a good book. I'm a college student studying middle level education, and I read a lot of YA lit. The book had no character development, it was predictable, and the plot is boring. The exact same thing happens in every chapter. I rarely review books, I don't even know what to say besides this was not easy to finish.
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