Hopeless in Hope
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Portage & Main Press
Published:1st Dec '23
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Fourteen-year-old Eva’s life is like her shoes: rapidly falling apart.
★ Among CCBC's Best Books for Kids & Teens list, a starred selection of exceptional caliber
We live in a hopeless old house on an almost-deserted dead-end street in a middle-of-nowhere town named Hope. This is the oldest part of Hope; eventually it will all be torn down and rebuilt into perfect homes for perfect people. Until then, we live here: imperfect people on an imperfect street that everyone forgets about.
For Eva Brown, life feels lonely and small. Her mother, Shirley, drinks and yells all the time. She’s the target of the popular mean girl, and her only friend doesn’t want to talk to her anymore. All of it would be unbearable if it weren’t for her cat, Toofie, her beloved nohkum, and her writing, which no one will ever see.
When Nohkum is hospitalized, Shirley struggles to keep things together for Eva and her younger brother, Marcus. After Marcus is found wandering the neighbourhood alone, he is sent to live with a foster family, and Eva finds herself in a group home.
Furious at her mother, Eva struggles to adjust—and being reunited with her family seems less and less likely. During a visit to the hospital, Nohkum gives Eva Shirley’s diary. Will the truths it holds help Eva understand her mother?
Heartbreaking and humorous, Hopeless in Hope is a compelling story of family and forgiveness.
★ Among CCBC's Best Books for Kids & Teens list, a starred selection of exceptional caliber * CCBC *
Among featured titles for SLJ Webcasts Spring Teen & Young Adult Book Buzz * School Library Journal *
A tender and even humorous coming-of-age story...a resonant story of healing, belonging, and persisting despite the odds.
* Kirkus Reviews *4.5 out 5 stars. A very moving and believable story revealing life for Indigenous people...but also kids who live in very damaged families...realistic and inspiring.
-- Katrina Yurenka * Youth Services Book Review *Among The White Ravens 2024 Recommended List
* The White Raven *- Winner of <I>Winner of the</I> Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize.
- Winner of Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize 2024 (Canada)
- Nominated for Forest of Reading 2025 (Canada)
ISBN: 9781774920831
Dimensions: 210mm x 140mm x 14mm
Weight: 279g
216 pages