Ace teenage waitress, Hope Yancey, and her aunt Addie move from Brooklyn to work in a diner in Mulhoney WI, where their new boss is recovering from leukemia and getting ready to run for mayor to clean up the corruption in town.
Food is in 16-year-old Hope’s blood. With her aunt Addie, diner cook extraordinaire, she’s traveled the states and honed her waitressing skills, impressing hungry people everywhere. But Hope never gets to stay in one place very long, and that’s hard.
This latest move threatens to be the hardest yet, leaving the excitement of New York City to run a diner in rural Wisconsin. Hope doesn’t expect to feel at home there, just as she doesn’t expect to get caught up in town politics. But her occupation has taught her to read people, and instinct tells her to trust G.T. Stoop, the straight-shooting owner of the Welcome Stairways Diner. What follows, as Hope meets politics, corruption, and her past head-on, is, at its heart, a story about honor, trust, and serving up your very best.
- Winner of the Newbery Honor Award
- Winner of the Christopher Award
- Winner of Michigan’s Thumbs Up Award
- Winner of the M. Jerry Weiss Reading Award
- An ALA Notable Book
- An ALA BBYA
- Nominated for 25 State awards