The pair moves to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, where Addie will be helping out G. T. Stoop, the proprietor of the �Welcome Stairways Diner,� while he convalesces from chemotherapy. No sooner do they get settled in than G. T. announces his candidacy for mayor, vowing to root out the corruption that has flourished under Eli Millstone�s tenure.
Hope allies herself with a band of enthusiastic youth who support G.T., including Braverman, the assistant cook. After G.T. loses the election, Hope discovers that there has been election fraud, and the mayor resigns under pressure. G. T. takes over as mayor, his leukemia is declared to be in remission, and he proposes to Addie. Hope finally has the father she always yearned for in G.T. and the man of her dreams in Braverman.
Life is great for two years, until G.T.�s leukemia returns with a vengeance. Although losing her beloved father seems more than she can bear, she is able to build on the core of strength that has sustained her throughout her young life.
Bauer creates memorable, believable, well-developed characters, who are described from Hope�s point of view. The protagonist, endearing, guileless, and sensible, is philosophical about life�s hard knocks. �I don�t expect life to be easy. . . when life hits the skids, I don�t have to regroup as much as the people who walk around in a cloud like the world owes them a joyful existence.� (p. 9) The antagonist, Mayor Millstone, is portrayed as a bad-tempered, conniving villain with no redeeming qualities, and worthy of the reader�s contempt.
The setting, Mulhoney, Wisconsin, could be any small town in America�s heartland. The Welcome Stairways Diner, a microcosm of the community, is described in heart-warming detail: � . . . the two-story white frame building with the bright red double stairways descending from the glass door � one from the left, one from the right. An American flag waving from a flagpole. A walk of flowering trees circled toward the back. Every window had a flower box packed with blossoms. Above the front porch hung a big sign: Welcome Stairways.� (p. 15)
Addie is acquainted with loss, but she reels from the death of G.T. �I didn�t think I was strong enough to handle this . . . I was sick of life being so impossibly hard.� (p. 178) The reader witnesses Hope�s resiliency and maturation, which helps her cope with the staggering grief. �Everything in my life had prepared me for it. I knew firsthand about life being hard. And I knew about being strong.� (p. 182)
Bauer�s novel has all the elements of a memorable book � laughter, tears, romance, a spell-binding story, and unforgettable characters. The lovable young Hope proves to be aptly named, and teens and tweens alike will take her into their hearts. Most �delicious� of all, though, is the humor which Bauer so generously mixes into the story. �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.� (Booklist, October 15, 2000)
Awards for Hope Was Here
Young Reader�s Choice Award
ABC Children�s Bookseller�s Choices Award
Newbery Honor Book
New York Times Bestseller
Relevant Websites
Joan Bauer�s Website: http://www.joanbauer.com
Author Profile: http://www.teenreads.com/authors/au-bauer-joan.asp
Source
Books in Print [database online]. Available from http://www.booksinprint.com. Accessed 20 September 2004.
School of Library and Information Studies
TEXAS WOMAN'S UNIVERSITY