Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer

I've been reading a lot of fantasy literature lately and I picked up this in attempt to get a break from magic and fantastic critters. I don't read many books that could be labeled mainstream, YA or otherwise so it was a nice change of pace.

Hope Was Here is about Hope Yancey, a 16 year old girl who's moving with her Aunt to Wisconsin to take up a position at a diner. Hope is a girl who has already had to deal with some pretty rough things, her mom abandoned her to her Aunt for one thing, but moving to a new town the summer before her junior year in high school feels like just one more hardship. However, Hope soon finds herself involved in the campaign for a new mayoral candidate in her small town's election for mayor.

There are a lot of things going on in here. There are themes of alienation, loss, grief, and abandonment. There's also a throughline of dealing with cancer and political involvement for teenagers. It is, overall, an empowering book for the young adult that underscores the power of the individual, even the individual teen, in the machine of politics.

This book is a Newbery Honor book, won a Christopher Prize,  was an ALA Notable book for the year, and appeared on the ALA's list for Best YA Books of the year. All and all, it's a rather impressive haul of awards which has opened it up to a couple of scathing reviews on Goodreads. Most of the negativity seems to be people enjoying being negative and critical.

It does seem a strange Newbery pick to me as the protagonist is so much older than the usual focus of the prize, but that's hardly the book's fault. The only criticism that seemed particularly valid was that the book had a somewhat overly rosy view of political process. Things worked out a little too neatly given the situation outlined in the beginning, however I don't think that detracts. I think the point is people, young people too, can band together to effect change despite of, or perhaps because of, the struggles they face in their personal lives. I think that's a valuable message for our young people these days.