Published: New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2001
160 pages
Target Audience: ages 10 and up
Reading level: 5.9
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Themes: Adoption and Foster Care; Parents; Self-esteem; Hope
Synopsis: Everyone in Coal Harbour is convinced that Primrose Squarp's parents were lost at sea in a terrible storm. Everyone but Primrose. She just knows that they will come back home.
For all practical purposes, at least for the time being, Primrose is an orphan, and there's no great clamoring of prospective adopters. After realizing the impracticality of continuing to pay Miss Perfidy an hourly wage to baby-sit her, the town council is able to locate a relative, Uncle Jack, who reluctantly takes Primrose into his care. But true sanctuary can always be found at a restaurant called "The Girl in the Swing", where everything — including lasagna —is served on a waffle.
As she waits and navigates through a series of adventures, Primrose observes all sorts of human qualities in the people who come into her life: an elderly neighbor, the school guidance counselor, her wheeler-dealer uncle, a childless couple, and the always ready to listen restaurant owner, who serves everything on a waffle.
Newbery Honor Book
National Book Award Finalist
CHARACTER: ****
PLOT:****
THEME:****
LANGUAGE:****
OVERALL RATING:****
This fun, lighthearted story entertains children while teaching about hope. With humor and insights — and some recipes, too — Polly Horvath serves up a delicious novel.
About the author: Polly Horvath
