HOPE WAS HERE
A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bauer, Joan. 2000. Hope Was Here. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. ISBN: 0399231420
B. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Joan Bauer has written a novel that conveys the message of hope. Hope for new beginnings, hope for a second chance, and hope for the goodness in life. The book offers a look into the difference one voice can collectively make within our political process. The protagonist, sixteen year old Hope, is being raised by Aunt Addie. Hope states: “Addie always keeps her promises. That’s why my mother gave me to her.” (p.22) The setting takes place in rural Wisconsin mainly at the Welcome Stairways Diner. Hope, who is not thrilled to be in a small town area, knows that Addie has promised that if this place is not right for them they will leave. As Hope allows herself to enjoy her new environment, she begins to understand herself better. The plot is believable and it places a heavy emphasis on the political process up front and in a personal way. As you progress through the novel you desire for G.T. to beat the incumbent in the upcoming election. Bauer is able to make her characters come alive and speak to the reader such as when G. T. is heard saying: “You want to know why to vote for a man who’s fighting for his life? We heard G.T. say, Because no one understands how sweet life can be, how blessed every minute is , how important it is to say and do what’s right while you’ve got the time, more than a person who’s living with a short wick.” (p.54) The novel points out the importance of making each day count. It also paints a realistic picture of politics. It demonstrates to teenagers that politics can get ugly, messy, and be down right dirty. Bauer even expresses within the novel that if you believe in something you must be willing to get burned in the process of fighting for what you believe in. “When a man said he didn’t think politics could help anyone anymore, G.T. said one person can make a difference, two can lift a burden, an more than that can start a revolution.” (p110) The reader will observe how Hope and her friends face their challenges head on and how those challenges become their strengths. It demonstrates that teens do have a place in society and can make a difference. Mixed within the story is a little romance between Hope and the cook Braverman and Addie and G.T. It places a sweet mix within a bitter plot of dirty politics.
There is no fairy tale ending to this novel. It offers a realistic journey of life. Hope understands through her hardships that life is what you make it. You can cook up sorrow or you can mix in some hope and taste life more sweetly. Hope chooses to savor the sweetness of life no matter how small the morsels may be. Her character is one that will offer young adult readers a recipe for staying true to you. Since this novel has a heavy emphasis on politics I believe it will have appeal to not only girls but boys as well. The book is well written and will appeal to readers between 12 to 18 years of age.
C. REVIEW EXCEPTS
Horn Book: The value of work has always been one of Bauer's consistent themes, and Hope takes great pride in her job: she's a short-order waitress who has come from Brooklyn with her aunt Addie to run a small-town diner in Wisconsin, its proprietor sidelined by leukemia. Hope, now sixteen, has lived with Addie since being left by her mother, who, in addition to having more of a gift for waitressing than she did for motherhood, had the dubious taste to name her daughter Tulip, which Hope changed as soon as she hit twelve. Addie and Hope, long peripatetic, find a new life in Wisconsin as well as a cause: G.T., the owner of the diner, has decided to take on the corrupt Eli Millstone, challenging his long incumbency as mayor. After telling another waitress her mother's Number One Cardinal Rule of Waitress Survival-"DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, DATE THE COOK"-Hope does anyway, and her tentative romance with Braverman is sweet indeed. Hope is a strong girl in a strong story, its humor warm and real.
Booklist: Like Bauer's other heroines, Hope is a typical teenage girl who works hard, excels at her part-time job, and plans for her future. The adults around her, though mostly one-dimensional, together create a microcosm of society--the best and the worst of a teenager's support system. It's Bauer's humor that supplies, in Addie's cooking vernacular, the yeast that makes the story rise above the rest, reinforcing the substantive issues of honesty, humanity, and the importance of political activism. Serve this up to teens--with a dash of hope.
School Library Journal: When it comes to creating strong, independent, and funny teenaged female characters, Bauer is in a class by herself and the 16-year-old waitress in this book is no exception. Hope Yancey and her Aunt Addie, a much-sought-after diner cook, have toured the country, one diner at a time. With each move, the teen leaves her mark, "HOPE WAS HERE," in ballpoint pen somewhere on the premises. Now in Mulhoney, WI, she has no idea that the residents of this small town will make their mark on her. G. T. Stoop, the Quaker owner of the Welcome Stairways, has leukemia, and while the disease can keep him from running the diner he loves, it can't keep him from running for mayor against a corrupt incumbent. Taking part in his campaign allows Hope to get to know Braverman, a fellow worker at the Welcome Stairways and G. T.'s greatest supporter. The mix of dealing with illness, small-town politics, and budding romance for both Hope and Addie is one that will entertain and inspire readers.
D. CONNECTIONS
*Discuss politics. What are their beliefs about the system? Do they feel their voice will count when they can vote? How can they make a difference for their country today?
*What did Hope mean when she stated, “A father isn’t woven from strings of DNA.” (p.175) Was she jipped by life to only have a father for less than two years?
Joan Bauer’s Website: http://www.joanbauer.com/
Other novels by Joan Bauer:
Peeled. 2009. ISBN 9780142414309
Rules of the Road. 2005. ISBN 9780142404256
Best Foot Forward. 2006. ISBN 9780142406908
A BRIEF CHAPTER IN MY IMPOSSIBLE LIFE
A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Reinhardt, Dana. 2007. A Brief Chapter In My Impossible Life. New York: NY: Wendy Lamb Books. ISBN: 9780375846915
B. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Dana Reinhardt has written and exceptional first novel that immerses the reader into the life of Simone and her birth mother Rivka. I enjoyed how this novel is written in first person. Simone talks to the reader such as, “Let’s back up. Let me tell you about my day.” (p.2) Simone is a sixteen year old who loves to write, enjoys Eminem music, hate’s school sponsored clubs, works on her SAT vocabulary, and enjoys the company of her good friends. Simone uses candid language to discuss her life. She talks about how her friends hang out in a cornfield, smoke pot, discuss sex, drink, and attend parties. On the other hand, it was refreshing to read a novel where the teenager actually likes her parents. Of course some of their rules can be typically annoying to her but they are not portrayed as lame and hopeless. The protagonist, Simone, is a believable teenager who has a current problem. She is dealing with the fact that after sixteen years her birth mother desires to meet her. This problem is two fold, Simone is not sure what to think about God and although that doesn’t bother her at first, once her birth mother comes into her life, she begins to ponder the question of a higher being. Simone states: “Well, if God was looking out for Rivka, then you kind of have to wonder why he let her get pregnant in the first place, don’t you? But then again, if she hadn’t gotten pregnant, I wouldn’t be here. So maybe God sent me my mother. Wait a minute. I don’t even believe in God.” (p.107-108)
The setting takes place between school, home, parties, and Rivka’s house on the beach. I think it was important for the author to have Rivka live on the beach. It allowed for closeness to nature. The home is a place of refuge and solitude with the earth. The ocean brings in waves of trouble but it always recedes and goes back from where it came. Rivka and Simone will both go back from where they came and each will find solace as best as it can be made. It is important to note that the tone of this book does not leave you with a fairy tale ending. It has real life implications about choices we make. Rivka chose to let Simone go, in turn Simone was raised well. Rivka chose to leave her faith, in turn she was disowned. Simone confronts her grandfather and states, “she felt abandoned by you.” and he states, “that is unfortunate. I had no choice.” (p225) I appreciate how the author conveys to teenagers that life is complicated. It demonstrates that choices made, although they seem bad and disturbing on the outside, may be what are best for the time and circumstances.
Readers will enjoy reading the thoughts of the protagonist as she works through her problems. I was taken back at how wonderfully the author was able to incorporate and unite differing faiths. Simone and her parents are agnostic and Rivka and Simone’s love interest Zack, are Jewish. It was inspirational to read how these families could come together in unity no matter what they each believed. The author made evident how we can incorporate each others traditions and make new ones.
As the book comes to a closure Rivka tells Simone, “how I could ever have questioned my faith, because looking at you, I just can’t believe that there isnt’ a God and that he didn’t’ conspire to send you to me at the very moment when I most needed an angel in my life.” (p220) Once Rivka passes away Simone stands at her grave and recites the Kaddish saying: “Aleha ha-shalom. Peace be upon her.” (p224) It reveals to the reader that healing can take place, traditions can be made, and faith can have a place in your life.
“Due to some sexual content and strong language in Simone's friendships and school life this book may be an inappropriate selection for younger teens.” (Booklist) I suggest that this book be read by students in 8th grade and up. To quote Simone about her feelings for the book, Great Gatsby, I believe A Brief Chapter In My Impossible Life is a “kick ass book.” (p.33)
C. REVIEW EXCEPTS
Booklist: Olive skinned and dark eyed, Simone looks nothing like her fair-haired family. She is, nonetheless, the beloved daughter of her adoptive parents and enjoys a close and supportive relationship with her younger brother. It therefore comes as a terrible intrusion in Simone's comfortable life when, after 16 years, her birth mother asks to meet her. After some resistance, Simone makes contact with Rivka, a 33-year-old self-exiled Hasidic Jew who is dying of ovarian cancer. Despite a fairly transparent setup, once Simone and Rivka are brought together, their shared story is developed with skill, attention to detail, and poignancy. Both Simone and Rivka are strong, complicated characters who benefit greatly from each other: Simone is gifted with her heritage and history and thus a richer identity, and Rivka is able to leave the world having known her daughter. Some sexual content and strong language in Simone's friendships and school life may make this an inappropriate selection for younger teens. Despite a fairly transparent setup, once Simone and Rivka are brought together, their shared story is developed with skill, attention to detail, and poignancy.
School Library Journal: Simone's junior year of high school proceeds with common teen issues such as alcohol, a first boyfriend, and sex in Dana Reinhardt's fast-paced novel (Wendy Lamb Books, 2006). Simone has a secure place in a loving family and knows it, resulting in some refreshing and self-aware musing on her part which narrator Mandy Siegfried handles beautifully. Whenever appropriate, she also musters the whatever tone in her voice, giving Simone an authentic teenage sound. Simone has always known she was adopted and that her birth mother is named Rivka, but never wanted to meet her. Something is different now and her parents seem to be pressing for a meeting. Touching encounters soon reveal that her birth mother is dying from ovarian cancer. Simone becomes an angel in Rivka's life and learns how Rivka's conservative Jewish upbringing led her to leave home, give up her baby, and forge her way on her own. Facing the usual teen problems comes into a different focus as Simone encounters life's unfairness, tragedies, and blessings in a thoughtful, well-crafted story. Siegfried offers a sensitive reading that is never maudlin, making the characters come alive. A great read that deals with important teen issues.
D. CONNECTIONS
*Does meeting Rivka change Simone?
*Do you think Simone is still an atheist at the end of the book?
*What significance does tradition play in this novel.
Dana Reinhardt’s Website: http://www.danareinhardt.net/Main.htm
*Other novels by Dana Reinhardt:
How to Build a House. 2009. ISBN 9780375844546
Harmless. 2008. ISBN 9780553494976
ALONG FOR THE RIDE
A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dessen, Sarah. 2009. Along For The Ride. New York, NY: Viking Publishing. ISBN: 9780670011940
B. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Sarah Dessen came highly recommended to me by my thirteen year old daughter. She said each story offers a sweet love story that connects with what really happens to teens. After reading “Along for the Ride,” I can see why she enjoys this authors style of writing. Dessen takes the reader on a memorable ride with characters that young adults can connect with. I have only read this particular book by Dessen but what I found amazing is that she was able to write a fabulous, easy to read, 383 paged book without including overt sexual tones or strong language. The protagonist, Auden, is an eighteen year old who has been raised without the frills of a normal childhood. Her concentration has been academics. Her parents are divorced and she views life from an idea that people “never change.” The setting takes place mainly at her dad’s home in a town off the coast. The setting gives the summer love off a romantic beach appeal. Auden is not your typical teen. She has had a formal upbringing. Life has been filled with an academic focus. She has never been to a prom, parties, or a nightclub. She keeps to herself and does not understand girly ways. The appeal of this story is watching Auden fumble and experience life for the first time. Auden begins to believe, “maybe people can change, or at least try to. I was beginning to see evidence of it everywhere, even thought I know enough to not be convinced, just, yet.” (p. 169) Friendship is key to this story. Eli, her love interest has lost his best friend to a car accident. Auden, who has never had a best friend, learns from the girls at work what friendship is about. “We’re friends, she said, and friends are honest with each other. Even if the truth hurts.” (p. 235) The reoccurring theme of friendship, loss, and the ability for people to change is dealt with in realistic ways. Auden sees her father attempting to change his ways and past failures. Her mom is making an effort to let her children be. As Auden progresses through the book she begins to change and becomes a normal young adult. She begins to see that she likes being normal or typical. The author stresses through Auden that problems will always exist, “If you are the problem chances were you could also be the solution. The only way to find out was to take another shot.” (p. 302) What defines you is not how many times you crash but the number of times you get back on the bike.” (p. 325) Through this novel teens will learn that life is a journey but we must learn to enjoy the ride.
This book has high appeal and I would recommend it to young adults of any age.
C. REVIEW EXCEPTS
Booklist: Auden is about to start college in the fall, and decides to escape her control-freak professor mom to spend the summer with her novelist father, his new young wife, and their brand-new baby daughter, Thisbe. Over the course of the summer, Auden tackles many new projects: learning to ride a bike, making real connections with peers, facing the emotional fallout of her parents’ divorce, distancing herself from her mother, and falling in love with Eli, a fellow insomniac bicyclist recovering from his own traumas. The cover may mislead readers, as despite the body language of the girl in pink and the hunky blue-jeaned boy balanced on a bike, this is no slight romance: there’s real substance here. Dessen’s many fans will not be deterred by the length or that cover; they expect nuanced, subtle writing, and they won’t be disappointed.
Horn Book: The summer before college, Auden lives with her father, terminally perky stepmother Heidi, and newborn half-sister. Auden forms a prickly alliance with Heidi, who's not nearly as vapid as she had thought. Without judgment, Dessen explores the dynamics of an extended family headed by two flawed personalities. Rounded out with richly depicted female friendships, the story offers a summertime exploration of self-discovery.
Publishers Weekly: Studious good girl Auden, named for the poet, makes a snap decision to spend her summer before college at her father's beach house rather than with her mother, a professor whose bad habits include male grad students. Auden's parents divorced three years earlier, a split she's not yet over. Her remarried father has already produced another heir, a colicky baby named Thisbe (after a tragic figure from Shakespeare), with his young wife, Heidi, who owns a boutique. Feeling sympathy for stressed-out Heidi, Auden agrees to do the shop's bookkeeping, providing her with an instant social circle-the teenage clerks plus the boys from the neighboring bike rental, including hunky, wounded Eli. Both night owls, Auden and Eli bond when he coaxes her to experience childhood activities-bowling, food fights, learning to ride a bike-that her insufferable parents never bothered to provide. Auden's thoughtful observations make for enjoyable reading-this is solid if not "top shelf" Dessen: another summer of transformation in which the heroine learns that growing up means "propelling yourself forward, into whatever lies ahead, one turn of the wheel at a time."
D. CONNECTIONS
*Do you believe people can change? If so, is change permanent?
*How can you learn to enjoy the ride?
*What did Auden learn about her parents?
Sarah Dessen’s Website: http://www.sarahdessen.com/
Other novels by Sara Dessen:
Lock and Key. 2009. ISBN 9780142414729
Sweetheart. 2008. ISBN 9783473543328
The Truth About Forever. 2006. ISBN 9780142406250
