Customer Reviews

Call Me Hope

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Call Me Hope is an intense story about a girl who is verbally abused by her mother. Hope keeps it to herself, at times making a game out of it - if she bites her tongue, if she takes the abuse quietly, she earns "points."

At first, Hope has no close friends. Her father took off shortly after she was born. Though she gets along well with her older brother, he isn't abused by their mother and therefore doesn't share the burden. Then Hope begins to work at a secondhand store to pay for a pair of purple boots and befriends the two older ladies who run the shop. When her lies and actions jeopardize her job, Hope must learn to vocalize her feelings and come to terms with her family's situation.

Call Me Hope handles a delicate subject well. The mother's harsh words will make readers cringe and want to console her daughter. I liked Hope's point system, her fondness for lucky numbers and patterns, and her interest in The Diary of Anne Frank. I especially liked what the purple boots symbolized: her uniqueness, her freedom, and her strength. I hope that this book will make readers reach out to someone who may need their help.

Eleven-year old Hope Elliot takes a lot of abuse, but being called hopeless, or sworn at doesn't hurt nearly as much as being called stupid. What's worse, it's her own mom who hurls these insults at Hope on a daily basis. Sadly, Hope is so used to it, she's learned to live in her bedroom, tiptoe around the house when Mom's home, and never, ever ask her mom for anything. That is, until the permission slips for sixth grade Outdoor School are handed out. Hope's been dreaming about the five day camp-out with her classmates for years. But will her mother sign the papers?

Hope tries harder than ever to stay on her mother's good side, but fierce insults fly constantly. With inspiration from her required reading book, Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl and Joshua's dad in the film Life is Beautiful, Hope comes up with her own plan--"Hope's Point System"--for surviving the verbal abuse.

Though it's not easy to ignore the comments, she's content adding points to her notebook each time she bites her tongue rather than reply to Mom. And, she's staying out of her mom's way by working part time at Next To New, a consignment store, to pay off her layaway debt for a pair of purple hiking books she fell in love with. After all, the boots would be perfect for Outdoor School.

Her plan is working beautifully. But she's afraid to get too excited because, as Mom often points out, Hope's no good at anything. And sure enough, when Hope makes a decision that backfires and sends her Mom into a rage, Hope's chance of Outdoor School vanishes like the prisoners who were carted off to the concentration camp gas chambers.
But, Hope knows from lessons learned in studying the Holocaust, she can choose to be strong, or choose to give up. Hope digs deep inside herself to find the words to finally confront her mother about how much the name calling hurts. It's a truly powerful scene--one in which the tears fell and smudged the pages of my book. I found myself cheering for Hope's courage and simultaneously bracing myself for her Mom's reaction.

Author, Gretchen Olson, shines a new light on the issue of bullying. Words can be destructive no matter who hurls them out, but it's even harder to read about when the person saying it is the one person who's supposed to take care of you, love you, and protect you most.
--Reviewed by Kerry O'Malley Cerra

Call Me Hope by Gretchen Olson is a wonderful book for middle school and for all parents. "Words Hurt" is an important message in this book, and they hurt even more when they come from a parent. Hope is filled with pain and doubt from the constant barrage of words from her thoughtless mother. For all of us who play a role in the life of a child, this book is important. We must consider the impact of what we say to young people.
Also, Hope is an incredible and resilient youngster who tries to find a way to achieve successes in her life without the encouragement of her mother. Everyone will fall in love with this character and wish to have her courage and determination. This book is a powerful reminder of the responsibility adults have to children and of the power of words to encourage or to destroy.

Call Me Hope is a very inspirational book. Hope is an 11-year-old child that feels unloved and unwanted by everyone. These feelings arise from the verbal abuse that her mother inflicts on her daily. From her mother calling her an accident to stupid, Hope struggles to find a way to deal with it all. Hope devises a play to award herself each time her mother calls her a name or makes a face. Each word or gesture was given a point value. Throughout the story, she would accumulate points and mentally give herself an award.

Hope is a protagonist character within this story. She is very bright and independent natured. She finds refuge in a number of places within the story and makes many new friends along the way. In the end, with help, she is able to begin to solve her issues with her verbally abusive mother.

This book takes a topic that is not widely saw as a problem and explains it through the words of a child. Verbal abuse is not as recognizable or as common as physical abuse. This book allows you to experience verbal abuse with the child, acknowledge systems, and offer solutions. It truly allows one to hope.

A teacher or counselor could very easily use this book in their classroom to explain verbal abuse and the effects of name-calling. I would highly recommend it for grades 4-5.

Hope Marie Elliot is eleven years old and in sixth grade. She has a lot to hope for: that her verbally abusive mother will stop calling her stupid and making her feel as though everything she does is wrong, and that she will get to go to Outdoor School at the end of the school year. But Hope is aptly named, and while her mother's insults continue unabated, she begins to form a refuge for herself. She throws her energy into school work and takes on a challenging project related to Anne Frank's diary, which her class is reading. She forms a friendship with two women who own a consignment clothing shop, and works to earn clothing for herself. She makes new friends at school, and begins to see her school counselor as someone she can open up to.

She is surprisingly independent for a girl her age, but much of her independence is forged from neglect. When Hope could be drawing inward and closing up, instead she reaches out and sees that the wide world is not necessarily like the one she experiences at home. And that gives her courage to reach out for more. Underlying much of the book is the recognition that while physical abuse is no longer accepted, verbal abuse is often still ignored or dealt with awkwardly.

Call Me Hope by Gretchen Olson is told simply through the words of the young protagonist, and it is richly layered with many themes. Some of the questions it asks readers to ponder: What is verbal abuse? How does a parent's verbal abuse affect members of the whole family, especially when it's directed at only one sibling? How do voices from the Holocaust have meaning for and inspire us today? What impact does a loving community have on a child's emotional well being? Is there hope for change?

Author Gretchen Olson has written a book that shines a light on an issue that isn't talked about much, while giving us a character, Hope, who will burrow into your heart and stay for a while.

Call Me Hope by Gretchen Olson made me cry. This book is about a pre-teen girl named Hope who is constantly verbally abused by her mother. To take her mind off her mother's hurtful comments about her, she has created a point system. She goes on being tortured by her mothers words, causing her to feel exactly what her mother says. She becomes close to two ladies, who work at the 'Next to New' consignment store, who treats Hope like she should be treated. When her classmates, teachers, counselors and even the principal finds out that she isn't allowed to go on the 6th grade camping trip, they all try to help her.Call Me Hope

This book brings in the 'Hands & Words Are Not For Hurting Program' [...]

"Call me Hope" is an extraordinary look at how verbal abuse can and does impact on children. Hope represents so many youngsters just entering their teens who have no parental support, who cannot in any way rely on the primary family adult for any kind of succor, or even the routine information to which most "tweens" are entitled.

The author presents this dilemma not with effusive sympathy, but with accurate assessment of how a young girl is affected by such abuse. She does this not only with valid insight into the mind of a typical adolescent verbal abuse victim, and with obviously well-researched facts, but also with wit and understanding. Hope becomes real to the reader, participating in all the usual shenanigans of a typical school kid, believing that no one in her peer group or any of her teachers are aware of what is going on. She lives next door to many of us.

Provided are solutions to this sad scenario. solutions which, in fact, are actually in play at various schools and which have been proven to work effectively. The book gives actual and concrete hope for one and all... not just via "fairy tale happy ending" but with proven resources available to everyone of us... even the concerned next door neighbor or school counselor. It's a must read for young adolescents and adults alike!

Doris Colmes

Eleven-year-old Hope struggles to live under the pressure of her verbally abusive mother, she's tempted to run away. But instead she chooses resilience. She creates a secret safe haven and a point system( giving herself points for every bad thing her mother says to her). She draws inspiration and comfort in Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.

I really liked the premise of a young girl dealing with a verbally abusive mother. The point system was interesting and different. I also liked how Hope refuses to be a victim but choses instead to resist her mother's sharp tongue.

What I found hard to believe was how Hope's mother reacts. I also questioned what the counselor does in this book. Sadly this weakens the story which is a shame as I really feel that this subject needs to be addressed. But not in a unrealistic way.

Hope is your average twelve-year-old - or at least that's what she appears to be on the outside. She should be free and careless, but instead she's stressed and worrisome.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place - or - between being the person she wants to be and a verbally abusive mother, Hope is sick of being called stupid, of all the "shoulds" and "are you listenings," and most of all being called "Hopeless".

But Hope soon finds peace and solace when she's assigned to read "Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl" Through Anne's diary she learns how to cope, how to be brave, and above all that she's not the only person to have the feelings she holds so deep down inside. Hope even goes as far as making a secret annexe of her own in her closet.

Hope finally comes full circle. With the help of Anne Frank, friends and family, she finds out she isn't as hopeless as she thought. By the end of the book readers are taken on a journey through painful feelings, heartbreaking situations, and brutal honesty. As Hope will never forget Anne Frank and the struggles of all those during the Holocaust, readers will never forget Hope.

The core of Gretchen Olson's Call Me Hope is verbal abuse. The subject matter, which is sensitive, is approached with grace, care, honesty, and above all, tact. It is a difficult task to present this to children in a way that is mature yet understandable, Olson does a great job at not dumbing down the text or not assuming that her target audience won't "get" the books point.

Within the pages, Olson has done a fine job defining (not in the traditional sense but by way of emotion) of what verbal abuse is, the key signs to know if someone is verbally abused, and all of the feelings that are attached. She has also done a fine job in creating a character, Hope, that is strong, realistic, and one that is readers can sympathize with.

Call Me Hope is a story of courage, of love, and of truth. It is well written and broken into short chapters - a key component to making this book what it is. Because of the short chapters, the book is understandable and relatable. It's amazing how well Olson blends to completely different life stories together and makes it work. There are even moments when readers may think they are reading about the feelings and struggles of Frank herself only to realize they are Hope's feelings. Olson has even managed to work in powerful quotes from Diary of a Young Girl blending fact with fiction.

Call Me Hope is a wonderful story of suffering and hope. What I took from this book was a sense of self worth.