Rating: 
Summary: Hope Was Here
Review: How would you like your name to be Tulip? Meet Hope, a sixteen-year old girl, whose real name is Tulip. She decided a while back that she hated that name, so she changed it to Hope. She and her Aunt Addie are about to move from their diner in exciting New York, to what Hope thinks will be boring Wisconsin. Follow a girl whose excellant waitressing skills, knowlege of politics, family and friends, inspire others.This book is perfect for young adults, or for people who have lost all hope.
Joan Baur writes this book in an easy-to-read, humorous and touching way, that shows you that there IS hope, and that there IS a way. Mrs.Baur takes us on a journey through Hope's eyes. Hope overcomes the obstacles in her city. In this book you'll laugh, cry, and be touched all at the same time.
Hope Was Here is a book with interesting characters, some good, some bad.You'll meet G.T Stoop, a leukemia patient with high hopes for the community, and Eli Millstone, the mayor whose a cheater and deciever. This book will bring hope to anybody's life. As Aunt Addie says about hope,"It's like the thrill I get from shoving a raw-plucked chicken into the oven and knowing that in a little while I'll have a soul-satisfying entree,"
Hope Was Here is a book for anybody who likes suspence, romance, and real-life situations will enjoy this book. Next time you are at the library, be sure to check out this Hope Was Here.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm a guy, and this seems like a girly book, but I liked it.
Review: First, to all the guys out there, I should say that I didn't know this was a girly book. :-) Actually, it's not really. The main character is a girl, though, and the book is seen first-person through her eyes. Hope is 16, cared for by her aunt after her mother left her, and a waitress alongside her aunt, who is the cook. When the diner she works in shuts down, she moves with her aunt to Wisconsin to work in the diner there. The cheery proprietor G.T., however, makes a startling announcement that he's challenging the corrupt current mayor of the town in an election. Hope finds herself handing out eggs over easy alongside campaign signs as she throws in her efforts behind G.T. Things get rough on the campaign trail, and Hope continues to meet new friends, all the time trying to live up to her name for the citizens of the town. I thought it was an interesting read. I just found this book lying on our table one day, picked it up, read a few pages, enjoyed the style, kept reading. Liked the characters and descriptions and kept reading. Finished the book...still wanting to keep reading. It's just a nice story, not at all a fantasy, but not a dark, depressing tale either. There's a few cases of what might be thought of as taking God's name in vain, but God is acknowledged as the source of strength for G.T. as well. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and I think you will too.
Rating: 
Summary: Alas, a negative review. So sorry Hope lovers.
Review: I dunno folks. I don't demand much from my young adult novels. Some interesting characters, a worthwhile plot, and a little depth and I'm content. In "Hope Was Here", you have two out of three. Unfortunately, the two include the characters and the plot. As for depth, you're better off searching a Pokemon cartoon for more subtle variations of human emotion and capabilities than you have here. Though a book that undoubtedly serves a need, "Hope Was Here" is one of the most shallow two-dimensional written works to be created in the last ten years. The good are good, the bad are bad, and all the children are above average. In "Hope Was Here", young Hope (who renamed herself after twelve years of carrying the moniker "Tulip" against her will) and her aunt are moving from Brooklyn to Wisconsin. Their restaurant was plundered by a wily colleague and the two, who've been together through it all, are hoping this next job won't suck. No fears there. Moving to Mulhoney, Wisconsin they find a range of friends and foes. The town is currently coming on to election time, and the proprietor of the Welcome Stairways Diner, G.T., is running against the currently crooked mayor. As the book flap says, "What follows - as Hope meets politics, corruption, and her past head-on - is at the heart of this memorable, laugh-out-loud story about honor, trust, and serving up your very best". Sounds good. Doesn't deliver. Here's the problem. From the minute Hope meets a character in this book you know instantly if they are good or bad. From the black waitress Flo (her actual name, I swear), the immigrant busboy Yuri, and the short-tempered (with a heart of gold) waitress Mary Lou, to G.T., the saint with cancer who's running for mayor. G.T., by the way, hasn't a flaw in his body save the leukemia. You kinda wish G.T. would throw a brick through a window or show SOME sign that he has dark thoughts. Those rare scenes in which he and Hope's Aunt Addie supposedly spar are so washed out and light that you're left feeling a little cheated. Take, for example, a fight between them that Hope calls their "worst face-off". Says Addie... "I'm hard on myself because that's the only way food is elevated".
"Maybe you'd have more fun if you backed off a bit". Her response to this biting heart-wrenching insult? "G.T., there's too much onion in this dish and I'm not going to serve it until I've got it right". Take that G.T. To allow any good guy in this book a moment of real unrighteous anger or a spew of biting insults would be to give them too much humanity. You could no more see G.T. grumble at someone on a particularly painful day (he's allowed considering he has CANCER, people) than you could find one of the corrupt politicians in this story reading a bedtime tale to their little one. Bad guys are corrupt all the way through. Good guys get a little sad sometimes, then shake it off. Hope herself is flawless, only growing angry at people who truly deserve it and THEN never taking her frustrations out on anyone who cares for her. A real teenager would probably fight with her aunt or her mom at least once during their acquaintance. Not our Hope. No teen in this book ever does anything less than saintly, save two working poor villains brought in to terrify our heroine for one brief convenient plot point. On top of that, G.T. spouts more platitudes during the course of this story than any philosopher ever could. I did hope, in some part of my heart, that this book wouldn't have the happy-happy-happy-plus-one-tragic-death, ending once so common in bad teen lit. Not to ruin it for you, but that is exactly what Bauer serves up. We aren't even allowed an ENDING with moral complexity. *sigh* There are people in this world that need books that talk about good and evil and hope in straightforward ways. This book is for them. Consider it comfort food. Then there are people who like books in which their characters, for all their good, still harbor dark places in their hearts. This book is not for them. That book would be, "True Confessions of a Heartless Girl", a kind of Canadian version of this story without the meaningful life lessons every other line. If a well-written book is on your menu, head thataway. But if you'd like a story that doesn't challenge you, doesn't contain any good guys with emotional damage, and has a faux happy ending, welcome to "Hope Was Here".
Rating:
Summary: A Hopeful Review
Review: Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
This story is about a girl named Tulip who changes her name to Hope. She and her aunt Addie have owned and co-owned many restaurants. They saw an application to co-own a restaurant and take care of a man who has a disease. That is where the journey begins.
A most interesting part is when there are beatings, robberies, and other mysterious events occur. Well, a really interesting character to me is "Addie". Because everyone says she can "Pull life's truth from a chicken." Like Hope would say, "It's like getting one extraordinary meal after eating junk food for a long time. The taste just sweeps through your sensibilities, bring all-out contentment, and the sheer goodness of it makes up for every bad meal you've ever had."
I would recommend this book to girls. The reason why is because it is a tear jerker! This would be the book for people who read realistic books. This book has a lot of conflict mostly about politics.
I give this book a 10 out of 10! It is an excellent book for ages 8 and above. I definitely recommend this book to other children!
Rating:
Summary: Hope was Here
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Book Review of Hope Was Here
Review: "WELCOME STAIRWAYS. THIS WAY TO THE BEST DINER IN AMERICA." Hope Yancey read that sign in Mulhoney, Wisconsin.
Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer is a story about effort. Hope, the main character, gave effort to something she thought was worthwhile. She is a 16-year-old girl who lives with her aunt. The setting of Hope Was Here is mostly Mulhoney, Wisconsin...well, all but a few pages! Between the beginning of the book and the end, around two years passed. The setting affects the plot because if Hope didn't live in Mulhoney, she wouldn't of known G.T. Stoop, and without G.T. the entire plot would be different! Speaking of the plot, Hope moves to Wisconsin to work at the Welcome Stairways, a restaurant, with her aunt Addie. While she's there, she meets G.T. Stoop, the owner of the Welcome Stairways. He unfortunately has leukemia but decides to run for mayor against the powerful current mayor. With a group of other teenagers, Hope tries to get G.T. on the ballot and then elected as mayor. But because of the terrible current mayor and people who support him, they run into some problems.
As I said, this is a book about effort. I really liked Hope Was Here, and I think that people ages 10 and older would like it too, particularly girls, because of the small romance near the end of the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I'll say a couple good things about this book: It doesn't talk down to its young readers. This is very important for the author of a young adult novel not to do and Joan Bauer writes about cancer and politics, she challenges her readers to figure out or find out on their own what's going on. She also creates some intersting, memorable characters. Hope is an exciting, dynamic heroine, G.T. Stoop is the embodiment of goodness and kindness, and Eli Millstone is an excellent villian. However, I suppose I expected more of a Newberry Honors Award winner. This book wasn't superior to the other YA novels out there. It had similar themes and situations (young girl begins to fall in love with a handsome guy; good vs. evil; ANOTHER young girl with a screwed-up family). I'll tell you, if you want to write a new and refreshing novel, write one in which the main character's family is not screwed up in some way--make it a normal, funcional, supportive family! No dead parents or siblings, no alcoholism or physical abuse, no absent family members. I can't even remember the last YA book I've read where the family was a supportive nuclear family. I digress. The story is entertaining, but nothing that's going to open the eyes of a young reader or make her see the world in a different way. It's just an entertaining story, nothing deeper. A kid would do good to read it, but she would do better to read others.
Rating:
Summary: A Must READ
Review: 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!!!
Rating:
Summary: Muslima was here...
Review: I really liked this book. It was awesome. Totally gr8. It wrapped u up! Buy and read it!
Rating:
Summary: Grate From Cover To Cover
Review: Hope was Here by Joan Beuer is an intreging book for meny ages.It's about a girl named Hope who faces many changes. She has just moved to Wisconsin and is working at a restaurant. Her boss, who has cancer, and is running for mayor of the city. I enjoyed this book mainly because the main character isn't your average every day fourteen year old. She's different and she likes it thet way. I think Joun Bauer intended the book to be for kids enjoyment.
|
