Hope and Other Punch Lines by Julie Buxbaum

Hope and Other Punch Lines by Julie Buxbaum
Published by Delacorte Press on May 7, 2019
Pages: 306

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Abbi Hope Goldstein is like every other teenager, with a few smallish exceptions: her famous alter ego, Baby Hope, is the subject of internet memes, she has asthma, and sometimes people spontaneously burst into tears when they recognize her. Abbi has lived almost her entire life in the shadow of the terrorist attacks of September 11. On that fateful day, she was captured in what became an iconic photograph: in the picture, Abbi (aka "Baby Hope") wears a birthday crown and grasps a red balloon; just behind her, the South Tower of the World Trade Center is collapsing.

Now, fifteen years later, Abbi is desperate for anonymity and decides to spend the summer before her seventeenth birthday incognito as a counselor at Knights Day Camp two towns away. She's psyched for eight weeks in the company of four-year-olds, none of whom have ever heard of Baby Hope.

Too bad Noah Stern, whose own world was irrevocably shattered on that terrible day, has a similar summer plan. Noah believes his meeting Baby Hope is fate. Abbi is sure it's a disaster. Soon, though, the two team up to ask difficult questions about the history behind the Baby Hope photo. But is either of them ready to hear the answers?

To be honest, this book wasn’t my favorite…

Don’t get me wrong, it had a great message and paid homage to a VERY important event… still to me, it fell a little flat.

I started this book as a quick filler, but it took much longer then I anticipated. It wasn’t super long page-wise, but I found it hard to really get into it, and I was easily bored. The sad part was, the story was so deep!

I wanted to like it so bad! It had great themes, an outstanding message, dynamic characters, and a meaningful setting. Obviously, there were some great elements, but to me, the engagement made it too hard to read. Why was this book so difficult?!

As normal, let’s start with the good. As I mentioned before this book had almost everything that you would wish for. From an adorable love story to a thoughtful message and everything in between, it seems perfect.

First of all, it was an incredible dedication to 9/11. It faced all the intense, and need to be spoken topics in mature ways. It kept the story of both the survivors and the deceased strong, as well as showing how 9/11 can still impact so many today.

That’s incredibly hard to do, and the author did a fantastic job with it. She wasn’t insensitive, but still raw and relatable. That’s gotta be a challenge. So props to her!

The message she taught was current and insightful, and every single person who reads this book will realize so much more about 9/11. That’s super necessary and important!

I think what made this book a little more captivating was the characters. The character development and dynamics were written well and helped change the way you think about 9/11. It made me realize that people are still suffering today and raised even more awareness.

Writing the book from a teenage point of view helped see the event through different eyes, the eye of the survivor. The characters each had so many layers and peeling them back was captivating and helped them grow. I loved watching them change into better versions of themselves, even if it was a little slow.

Also, the love story! I enjoyed the love story elements and as I mentioned before, how they grew into it. It was adorable. Sadly, the love story doesn’t end there…

The romance was extremely slow and at multiple points, boring. It took AGES for it to even begin, and things remind stagnant for the majority of the book! I felt like the love story was cast off to the side and at times, forgotten.

I understand that it was to heavily talk about 9/11, but I would have rather had no romance at all,l as it felt very underdeveloped. I loved the dynamic, but it felt too brief and random. I didn’t have much of a connection with the romance.

That leads me to my other problem, the speed. I felt like the pacing was very difficult to keep up with, and left me feeling unengaged.

I wanted to fall in love with this book so badly! Yet, the slowness at the beginning, the underdeveloped plot, and repetitiveness made it hard for me. Personally, it was so hard to get into “the reading zone” and when I did, I would easily fall out.

I never found myself reaching for the book, and that was the last sign, this book is not for me.

It had so much great potential, but I ended up not loving it as much as I thought. It had a great concept and multiple AMAZING elements, but for me, the speed made it harder to enjoy.

Overall, I have mixed feelings. There’s part of me that wants to keep reading from Julie Buxbaum, and part of me that doesn’t. This book is perfect for anyone wanting to learn about 9/11 through someone else’s shoes, and anyone who doesn’t mind slower books. I would have to rate it ⅗ stars, but what do you think? Should I read more from Julie Buxbaum? Happy reading!

Favorite Quote:

“Stories are like the…currency of connection. And all your stories woven together might tell some larger story about the history of our country from that moment to now.”- Page 253