Hopeless in Hope

This book blew me away.

Hopeless in Hope is a story of compassion, forgiveness and, yes, hope.  It's a story about family, courage and finding your way despite the unfair things life will throw at you.

It's an emotionally heavy story at times, but at the heart of this Teen book is Eva Brown, a 14-year-old Indigenous girl who is trying to hold her family together. Her mother Shirley is an alcoholic and has been in and out of Eva and Eva's younger brother Marcus' lives and their elderly Nohkum (grandmother) has been their only constant. But when Nohkum has an accident and is in the hospital for weeks, Eva and Marcus are placed separately in foster care.

John-Kehewin successfully tackles several weighty issues including poverty, bullying, alcoholism, anxiety, disconnection from culture and intergenerational trauma. Eva is bulled for her weight, her threadbare clothing and her Indigenous heritage and finds solace with her Nohkum and in her own writing. Poetry plays an important role in her healing, and we witness how she begins to understand her mother and her family's past as she works through her own feelings of fear and her lack of connection to family and culture. 

With a well-drawn and diverse cast (Grace, Eva's foster mother may be my favourite of the bunch), this story is well-written, immersive and poignant and is an exceptional debut. It brought me to tears in a few spots but don't let its short page count fool you. Hopeless in Hope is a powerful and engaging coming-of-age story with emotional themes and a memorable cast of characters that will give readers much to discuss.

My Rating: 5 stars

Author: Wanda John-Kehewin

Genre: Teen, Canadian, Indigenous

Type and Source: Trade paperback from public library

Publisher: Highwater Press

First Published: Sept 5, 2023

Read: Nov 24-25, 2024

Book Description from GoodReads: 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.