Hope is in 6th grade and lives with her brother and single mother. Her school regularly takes 6th graders to an Outdoor School in the spring, and she is greatly looking forward to it. What she doesn't let people know, however, is that her mother is constantly yelling at her, belittling her and generally being verbally abusive. When she spots a pair of hiking boots in a second hand store, she tries to figure out how she can earn the money to pay for them while staying on her mother's good side. She devises a system to earn points to help her not be affected by her mothers comments, and when her mother forbids her to go to Outdoor School because of something she did, school counselors and friends band together to help her. The book uses strong language to bring home the point of what it feels like to be verbally abused, so it is most appropriate for middle school or up. Still, it shows ways to cope and methods available to help students in difficult family situations. Call me Hope by Gretchen Olson. Little, Brown and Co., 2007.
