Hopeless in Hope

We live in an old hopeless 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 fourteen-year-old Eva Brown, life feels lonely and small. Her mother, Shirley, drinks and yells all the time. Her four-year-old brother, Marcus, keeps causing trouble 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 after a bad fall, Shirley struggles to keep things together for Eva and Marcus. Eva's already-tense relationship with her mother becomes even more strained. 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's weakness, Eva struggles to adjust to the group home--and being reunited with her family seems less and less likely. During a visit to Nohkum in the hospital, Nohkum gives Eva Shirley's diary. Can Eva find forgiveness for her mother within its pages?

Heartbreaking and humorous in turns, Hopeless in Hope is a compelling story of family and forgiveness.