Hope Was Here
by Joan Bauer

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: YA fiction

It’s a difficult transition when Hope moves with her aunt from an urban area to a small town in Wisconsin. Her aunt is going to take over the kitchen of a diner owned by a man who has been diagnosed with leukemia, while Hope works as a waitress. Hope expects to be bored in this new environment. She certainly doesn’t expect to get swept up in local politics as the diner owner, G.T., runs for mayor against a corrupt regime.

I found Bauer’s writing style to be mostly engaging and easy to follow (though the book does switch between present and past tense a lot, and I’m not sure why). Some of the themes in the book, especially that of finding family, were what made this book enjoyable to me. Hope is certainly used to disappointment and relies on her name to help her remember to have hope, but it’s hard to come by at certain times throughout this story. The outcome of the book might have had its predictable moments, but the author still managed to surprise me in a few spots, one of which was even emotional for me.

The characterization could have been better, though, as G.T. was pretty much too perfect, Hope’s aunt was one-dimensional, and there were a couple of romances that weren’t developed well, so they kinda came out of left field. Even Hope herself, though overall being the most well-rounded character, had a strong desire to be part of the mayoral campaign with very little reason for it, at least that was shown to us, other than that G.T. was a nice guy. Overall, though, the story is touching, and my thirteen-year-old daughter liked it quite a bit. I think that’s enough to recommend this to teens and anyone else who is interested.

Find out more about Hope Was Here

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!