Hope Was Here is a 2001 Newberry Honor Book about sixteen year old Hope Yancey, who was named Tulip by her mother, Deena. Figuring that the name Tulip had done her no favors, she chooses to change her name to Hope. Deena is a waitress, a great waitress but a self-proclaimed terrible mother. Hope was left by Deena to be raised by her aunt, Addie. At fourteen, Hope got her first waitressing position and she "slung hash from Pensacola to Brooklyn and made money that most teenagers only dream about. Brooklyn was the best place yet". Addie had been part owner of The Blue Box diner but her partner Gleason Beal had stolen all of the money out of the business bank account and took off for parts unknown. When the roof began to leak and the furnace died, they could not afford the repairs so Addie shut the place down. It was time to leave, again. Addie had found them jobs at the Welcome Stairway Diner in Mulhoney, Wisconsin so they headed west.

G.T. Stoop owned the Welcome Stairway Diner but had leukemia and could no longer keep the business going without help. Addie was the cook and a great cook, who took control of the kitchen and no lip from anyone. Hope waitressed full time since it was summer break. Braverman, a handsome high school graduate helped Addie cook and learned to stay out of her way. When G.T. decides to run for mayor, the town heats up with political debate. Current mayor, the slimy Eli Millstone, in cahoots with the Real Fresh Dairy, was getting rich while the town crumbled around them. The dairy had not paid their taxes and had run smaller dairies out of business as well as broken up the roads with their heavy loads.

Hope and Braverman join together to help G.T. win the mayoral election and his battle against cancer. When Braverman gets beat up by some Millstone thugs, the teens get up in arms to support G.T. Hope battles her feelings for Braverman, trying to remember her number one waitressing rule - never under any circumstances date the cook. Addie tries out new menus and increases business at the diner, while Hope utilizes some tips from Deena on how to be a better waitress. When Millstone wins the election, it is Hope that discovers that the ballots were rigged and the election committee determines that G.T. actually won the election. But that's not all he has won, he also won his battle against cancer when he goes into remission. Next he sets his sights on Addie's heart and asks her to marry him. The tough Addie softens finally and agrees.

Hope delights in the idea of having G.T. as a father but fears he will not want that position. G.T. admits to Hope he would like to adopt her and make her his official daughter. Braverman can no longer hide his feelings for Hope and they cling to each other. G.T. lives to see Hope graduate but when leukemia returns he can no longer fight. They bury G.T. and the diner is filled with flowers from those who loved him. The good sheriff Babcock is appointed as his successor to keep his good work going. When the diner was reopened after the funeral, customers pour in to talk about how G.T. touched their lives. Even though G.T. was gone, his spirit lived on in this town, these people and this diner. It was time for Hope to go to college and she bent down and like every place she had left she wrote - Hope was here - but this time it was different, this time she would return, this was finally home.

Squashed is Joan Bauer's first novel and it tells the story of sixteen year old Ellie Morgan's attempt to win Rock River's Harvest Fair's award for the largest pumpkin in the adult competition. Ellie is a gardener, it runs in her blood, her mother was a gardener before she died and her grandparents on her dad's side are gardeners. Her dad grew up on a farm and though his parents tried to teach him to love it, he hated gardening and thought it was unimportant. Her dad is a motivational speaker and he can motivate anyone into changing him or herself for the better, anyone except Ellie. He tries to tell Ellie that she is wasting her time out there in the dirt with that vegetable, that she affectionately named Big Max. He thinks she should lose weight and focus more on her appearance and how she presents herself. She wishes her dad would understand that she thinks gardening is important and accept her the way that she is.

Cousin Richard, who eats and sleeps baseball, understands Ellie's focus and walks with her over to Cyril Pool's house to check out the competition. Big Daddy is Cyril's pumpkin and it is already over 100 pounds bigger than Big Max. Cyril is a four-time blue ribbon winner for his pumpkins. He is also dirty and a despicable person. Convinced he is going to win, Cyril taunts Ellie, who although she had won in the youth competition several times, had not succeeded in beating Cyril. She tries not to show her feelings but inside she knows she will die if she does not win.

Grace McKenna was having her beginning-of -school year bash and Ellie was invited. Her dad thought it would be a good idea for her to get out of the garden and he strongly suggests that she go. Grace had told her about her cute cousin Wes, who was moving to town. He was the president of the city agriculture club before he moved. Determined to wear her now too tight khaki pants she puts herself on a strict diet. On the night of the party, Grace pulls her in to an introduction with Wes and Ellie quickly relaxes as she and Wes talk about gardening. When a peanut shell shoots down her blouse, she excuses herself to remove it but upon her return, Sharrell, contestant for Sweet Corn Coquette, had moved in on Wes. How could an overweight nobody compete with her?

When pumpkin thieves begin terrorizing the area, Ellie agrees to keep Spider, a dog and a pumpkin thief's worst nightmare, as well as Ellie's because he is filthy and barks all the time. When Ellie finds a note from the pumpkin thieves that shows they will hit Cyril's pumpkin, she alerts Cyril, who tells her to get off of his land, and then alerts the police. Ellie is a hero when the thieves are nabbed in Cyril's patch and the community of growers can relax. Or can they? One evening when Spider lets out a single shriek, Ellie walks over to a window to look outside. She spots three hooded figures heading toward Big Max. She thwarts the attack with a rolling pin and Max's sprinklers, stalling the thieves long enough for her dad to grab them. The second band of thieves was caught.

Ellie continues to struggle with Big Max through a hailstorm and finds that her dad has a new pride in her, pride in what she believes. Finally the day arrives when it is time to cut Max's vine and head to the fair. She sits in the back of the truck with a protected Max as Nana hands her a bag of soil. She tells her to remember that winning or losing does not affect who she is, she comes from good soil. Cyril Pool arrives late to the competition but rides in with a raucous. His pumpkin shows signs of a terrible bruise and Wes stands up to have him disqualified. The judging committee determines that Cyril is allowed to enter the contest. Weighing in at 686.2 pounds, Big Daddy is the obvious winner, until his rot is exposed and he explodes all of the committee. Cyril is disqualified. Big Max tips the scale at 611.7 pounds and wins the competition. Ellie is happy to have won, but delights more in her newfound love with Wes, new understanding with her dad and her sense of belonging to something great.