Monday, August 27, 2007

Mock Newbery: Call me Hope by Gretchen Olson

Title:  Call me Hope 
Author: Gretchen Olson
Publisher: New York, NY : Little, Brown & Company,2007
ISBN 9780316012362

Annotation: In Oregon, eleven-year-old Hope begins coping with her mother's verbal
abuse by devising survival strategies for herself based on a history unit about the
Holocaust, and meanwhile she works toward buying a pair of purple hiking boots by
helping at a second-hand shop.


I just finished Call me Hope, a novel by Gretchen Olson, who lives in Oregon. This
a satisfying book about verbal abuse beween a mother and a child.
Satisfying because it was more than an issue book. The main character, Hope, reads
"Anne Frank" and draws inspiration from Anne's diary to help her deal with her own
life. I worried about whether to make it J or YA. In the end I thought it would find
more J readers. I thought the author's choice of the Thrift shop friends was a good
choice, gently used things being new again. The character's name Hope, the sixth
grade class trip as a reward for responsibility, all fit with the theme. Hope's
survival tips are listed in the back of the book. Recommended.

Review by: Beth J., CLTR

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi this is a 11 going on 12 year old girl i just want to say that I loved your book it touched me so much cause I know someone, a close friend whose mother did the same thing to her as Hope's mom did. I tolled her to read Hope's notes and she asked if she could read it and ever since she read your book it has truley changed her life! Thank you for opening up a door I thought would never be opened!

Love Tiffany Seppala