Hope Was Here
Here's a book that's as warm and melty as a grilled Swiss on seven-grain  bread, and just as wholesome and substantial. Ever since the boss promoted her  from bus girl two and a half years ago when she was 14, Hope has been a  waitress--and a darn good one, too. She takes pride in making people happy with  good food, as does her aunt Addie, a diner cook extraordinaire. The two of them  have been a pair ever since Hope's waitress mother abandoned her as a baby, and  now they have come to rural Wisconsin to run the Welcome Stairways café  for G.T. Stoop, who is dying of leukemia. But he's not dead yet, as the kindly  and greathearted restaurant owner demonstrates when he decides to run for mayor  against the wicked and corrupt Eli Millstone.As old-fashioned goodness lines up against the bad guys, the campaign leads Hope  in exciting new directions: a boyfriend who is a great grill man, a new sense of  herself and her mission as a waitress, and--when Addie and G.T. finally realize  that they are meant for each other--the father she has always wanted. And all of  it backed up with stuffed pork tenderloin, butterscotch cream pie, and the  rhythm of the short-order dance.Joan Bauer, who won theLos Angeles TimesBook Prize forRules of the Road, has served  up a delicious novel inHope Was Here, full of delectable characters,  tasty wit, and deep-dish truth. (Ages 12 and older)--Patty Campbell--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.