Fourteen-year-old Eva, who is Cree, lives in a small Canadian community with her little brother, Marcus, and her beloved grandmother, Nokhum, who takes care of them. Her mother, Shirley, is an alcoholic, unpredictable and unreliable; her negligence sent Eva into temporary foster care when she was little. Now Nokhum provides love and warmth and stability, although uncertainty is unescapable with money tight and Shirley in and out of their lives. When Nokhum breaks her hip, Shirley tries to pull herself together, but Eva and Marcus end up in separate foster homes after a frightening incident. Eva doesn’t like her social worker, and resents being separated from Marcus, but Grace, her foster parent, proves to be a reliable guardian. One of five Native teens in the house, Eva slowly builds trust—trust in Grace, trust in her housemates and, finally, trust in her mother, who is working hard in recovery. Eva is also reluctantly learning more about her mother’s and Nokhum’s past through her mom’s journal. Although she’s always thought of Nokhum as infallible, it turns out Shirley grew up in foster care because Nokhum, too, was an alcoholic during her daughter’s childhood, drinking after the trauma of residential school and losing her own mother. The intergenerational trauma of residential schools is a strong theme throughout Eva’s tale, as is recovery—and the fact that recovery often includes relapse. Eva’s story ends in a place of hope as she looks toward a brighter future. (Age 12 and older)

We live in a hopeless old house on an almost-deserted dead-end street in a middle-of-nowhere town named Hope. This is the oldest part of Hope; eventually it will all be torn down and rebuilt into perfect homes for perfect people. Until then, we live here: imperfect people on an imperfect street that everyone forgets about.

For Eva Brown, life feels lonely and small. Her mother, Shirley, drinks and yells all the time. She’s the target of the popular mean girl, and her only friend doesn’t want to talk to her anymore. All of it would be unbearable if it weren’t for her cat, Toofie, her beloved nohkum, and her writing, which no one will ever see.

When Nohkum is hospitalized, Shirley struggles to keep things together for Eva and her younger brother, Marcus. After Marcus is found wandering the neighbourhood alone, he is sent to live with a foster family, and Eva finds herself in a group home.

Furious at her mother, Eva struggles to adjust—and being reunited with her family seems less and less likely. During a visit to the hospital, Nohkum gives Eva Shirley’s diary. Will the truths it holds help Eva understand her mother?

Heartbreaking and humorous, Hopeless in Hope is a compelling story of family and forgiveness.