Hope Was Here

As they drive, Addie frets over finding a good sausage seller and how to plan a successful menu for the new diner. Hope thinks about the boxes in the backseat that contain all her prized possessions including her dictionary, thesaurus, globe, and most importantly, her 11 scrapbooks. Hoping to one day meet her father, she keeps the scrapbooks to document her life so she can show him if they are reunited.

Hope’s best friend is Harrison Beckworth-McCoy, and Hope likes him because he is a sensitive boy. When she left, he gave her a glass prism because he said it reminds him of how she sees the world differently than others. Looking at the prism reminds Hope of all their memories together, and she fights off tears. They stay in Indiana for the night, and as they awake to finish the trip the next morning, Hope’s anxiety grows as she wonders how she will fit into a small Wisconsin town. She considers taking out a personal ad seeking friendship, composing in her mind, “Insightful, hardworking 16-year-old girl, emotionally generous and witty, seeks friend/pal/chum to while away meaningful hours. Picky eaters need not apply” (11). Her friends tell her there is a lot of cheese in Wisconsin, but Hope’s favorite food is sushi.

Hope remembers another move, when she and Addie moved to Atlanta and Hope pitched a fit, refusing to leave. She threw a rock at the car and hid at her friend Lyla’s house. She worried that Addie would leave her as her mother did, but she didn’t. Hope thinks about each time she had to start over in a new place and ask kids to be her friends.

As they reach Wisconsin, Hope takes in the small-town scenery that is nothing like Brooklyn. Addie and Hope look over the menu for the diner, Welcome Stairways, named for an old Quaker tradition that holds that two staircases at the front of the home or meetinghouse are a sign of hospitality. G.T. Stoop is the owner, but he has leukemia and needs help running the diner. Addie and Hope have a ritual of staking out their new diner first before going in just to get a sense of the atmosphere. Even though the sign outside reads “YOU’VE ALMOST REACHED THE BEST DINER IN AMERICA,” When Addie sees customers leaving silently, she assumes that the food is unremarkable (15).

Addie and Hope covertly take a seat in a booth and begin scrutinizing the menu. Flo, the floor manager, takes their order, and as Addie asks specific questions about the pot roast and the freshness of the ingredients, Flo notices that Addie knows a lot about food. A group of eight men enter the diner and demand that Flo put up a campaign sign for Eli Millstone, but she refuses and says they must first speak to G.T. The men poke fun at a Russian man named Yuri who works in the diner, and Hope decides that whomever Millstone is, she doesn’t like him.

Hope is tall with brown curly hair and blue eyes. She likes her appearance and thinks that it is one of her assets. Addie and Hope begin moving into their apartment above Welcome Stairways. Hope thinks about the dictionary definition of hope and wonders if this move will be the one that sticks and brings an end to their constant moving. Their last job at the Blue Box was supposed to be permanent, until they lost their money to Gleason Beal. Hope feels the heaviness of his betrayal, but Addie encourages her not to let him steal her joy and the promise of a new start. Addie acknowledges how difficult the move is for them and promises Hope that they will leave if it doesn’t work out.

The next morning, Addie and Hope meet G.T. Stoop as he cooks breakfast in the diner. Hope watches in amazement as he jovially prepares food with ease. Other than his bald head, he doesn’t look like someone with cancer. Braverman, the cook, arrives, and Hope is intrigued by the tall, mysterious young man. Hope meets another waitress named Lou Ellen, who has 10 years of experience, and Hope tries to convince her of her readiness for the job having worked 18 months at a busy diner in Brooklyn. G.T. and Addie discuss additions to the menu, and she tastes their blueberry coffee cake made from his mother’s recipe, which Addie deems dry. G.T. says he is happy to have Addie here to take over because he is “cooking up something” (28).

Everyone goes outside for the town Memorial Day parade. Having lived in New York, Hope isn’t impressed by the small-town event. When Eli Millstone’s float approaches, she sees Braverman become angry. He explains that Millstone has been mayor for eight years, and no one ever challenges him. A man in the crowd begins cheering enthusiastically for Millstone and gets angry with Braverman when he sees he isn’t cheering. The man gives Hope a sinister look, making her feel uncomfortable. After a tap-dancing performance in the town square, G.T. takes the mic and announces that he is running for mayor. G.T. wants to bring unity to the town, improve city streets, and provide better childcare options for workers. Millstone mockingly asks G.T. how he plans to pay for those improvements without raising taxes. G.T. drops a bombshell and reveals that the mega-corporation Real Fresh Dairy, whose headquarters are in Mulhoney, owes over $1 million in back taxes, which, when collected, should be a good start to funding the projects. Millstone denies the truth of the claim and reiterates that Real Fresh Dairy, which he takes credit for acquiring, is an asset to the town and has brought them many jobs. G.T. claims that the dairy put many small-town farms out of business. Addie thinks G.T.’s enthusiasm is electric but worries the campaign will take a toll on his health.

After G.T.’s big announcement, the diner fills with customers, and Flo needs Hope’s help waitressing. While G.T. fields questions about his health and ability to fulfill the duties of mayor, Hope does her best to attend to the customers and connect with them. A gruff man sidles up to the counter and orders a BLT, but Hope charmingly convinces him to try a cheeseburger and chocolate malt. Customers line up outside the diner, and Sheriff Greebs tells G.T. he is over the capacity limit inside. Hope angers Lou Ellen when she accidentally takes one of her tables. G.T. continues to answer questions, assuring everyone in the diner that he meets the requirements for being mayor. All he needs are 200 petition signatures added to the ballot. Others are concerned about him targeting Real Fresh Dairy since they employ their family members. Sheriff’s Deputy Brenda Babcock and Pastor Al B. Hall are at the diner. Al says he will sign the petition, but he speaks to G.T. privately and expresses concern about him entering the election.

At the end of the day, Hope evaluates her performance, assessing that she only made one major mistake involving a miscommunication with Braverman. Hope learned most of what she knows about waitressing from her mother and keeps a “Best of Mom Book” where she chronicles all her interactions with her mom, though they are few (423). She hasn’t seen her mom in person in several years, but Hope keeps all her letters even though she doesn’t love having merely a “pen parent” (43). Their last meeting was awkward and disappointing, leaving Hope distraught and angry. Addie, who never withholds the truth, told Hope that she was sorry her mother is not physically or emotionally capable of being a mother. Hope wrote a free-verse poem to help express her feelings and compared her search for her mother to sending a bucket down a well only to find it empty. Harrison encouraged her to submit it to her teacher, but Hope didn’t want her grief judged on a grading scale.

Braverman asks her to join him the following day in circulating the petition for G.T. Braverman explains that G.T. means a lot to him because he gave him a job when his mother became unemployed. Hope sheepishly asks if he is in high school, and he explains that he graduated but can’t afford college, and she feels embarrassed that she pried. He leaves her to lock up the diner, warning her that the lock sticks. When she leaves, she can’t manipulate the lock, but G.T. helps her and explains that he’s always had a problem with locks. He tells her that she is a good waitress who finds ways to relate to the customers. Hope thinks this is the best compliment a waitress can get.

The next day, Hope works with Braverman and his friends Adam, Jillian, and Brice from Mulhoney High School’s Students for Political Freedom Coalition to circulate the petition. Adam reminds them that they must only get signatures from registered voters. As more teenagers show up to help, they each have a story about how G.T. helped them or their family in some way. However, the group doesn’t have much success, as people repeatedly slam doors in their faces, refusing to pledge support for a sick person with no experience.

Hope and Braverman pair up to try more houses, but most people reject them, claiming they don’t want to lose their jobs at the dairy. Hope asks Braverman to explain the situation with Real Fresh. Braverman says the story is cloaked in mystery but that most people believe that the dairy financially backs Eli Millstone in exchange for favors. The teens pass by Millstone’s palatial home, which Millstone claims he bought with his wife’s inheritance money. Others suggest that the dairy bought the home. On their walk back to the diner, Braverman displays his yo-yo talents, and Hope decides that he is cuter than she first thought. Outside the diner, G.T. is speaking with a group of townsfolk and explaining why he is entering the mayoral race. He believes he should make the most of his life, however long it may be. The teenagers capitalize on the moment and garner a few more signatures from those moved by G.T.’s speech. When they tally the day’s work, they find some fake signatures and unkind words on the petition. Jillian and Brice report that they were followed by one of Millstone’s cronies driving a hearse, and the hearse is now parked outside the diner. Adam suggests retaliation, but G.T. reminds them not to stoop to the same level as the bullies. G.T. says if that’s what it takes to win the race, then he will bow out.