Call Me Hope by Gretchen Olson

Plot: eleven-year-old Hope may seem like an ordinary sixth grader, but at home she is constantly being verbally abused by her moody, unpredictable mother. She thinks about running away, but, inspired by Anne Frank's diary, instead puts up with her mother day after day. She creates a point system that gives her points for every bit of abuse her mother gives her and struggles to keep her mother happy.

Comments: this was a really insightful book that teaches a lot about verbal abuse. Physical abuse is not the only kind of problem in homes, and it's important to know that verbal abuse can be just as bad, if not worse. Verbal abuse can cause depression, which could lead to suicide. Verbally abused children may verbally abuse other children, and could feel insecure and lost. This book is from the perspective of a verbally abused child, and since it's easy to read, the story can teach a lot of people about verbal abuse.

I really liked this book, and though it was really easy to read, it was interesting, and I wanted to find out how it ended. I felt like I could relate to Hope - though I would not consider myself verbally abused, she had several traits that reminded me of myself, which helped me to feel like I was a part of the story. The characters were also easy to relate to, and though I couldn't imagine their appearances at all, I felt like I knew them. The descriptions of the characters is kept simple, and that only helps you relate to the story better. Since the characters aren't defined to a letter, I can think of them as natural people, instead of a character. This makes me feel like this story could be told in many different ways and from different perspectives, which makes me wonder how many children are verbally abused like Hope.

I also wondered how many of their stories have endings like Call Me Hope did. I thought everything was over and resolved too quickly, that the changed seemed impossibly fast. I did like the way Hope's story ended, and it made me happy for her, but I wasn't sure it really fit. Not every story has a happy ending, but not every lost cause is really lost. I'm still undecided and probably always will be on this one.

Rating: I rate this book an eight out of ten. An amazing story of hope beyond expectations, of a place inside us where we are still believing and wishing for an apparently lost cause.