Name: Everything on a Waffle
Rating: 4 (8 reviews)
ISBN: 9780374422080

Polly Horvath

This Newbery Honor Book tells the story of 11 -year-old Primrose, who lives in a small fishing village in British Columbia. She recounts her experiences and all she learns about human nature and the unpredictability of life after her parents are lost at sea.

Everything on a Waffle

Sarah Sammis

Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath is the story of Primrose Squarp and her unusual life in Coal Harbour, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. She begins her tale with her parents being lost at sea. Throughout her tale she maintains her belief that her parents are marooned on an island even if the adults in her life try to tell her otherwise.

Young Primrose, then, goes from home to home as her parents' disappearance lengthens. Her first caretaker is her babysitter — an elderly women obsessed with mothballs. Then, there's her wayward uncle, Jack. And finally, she's put into foster care with a delightful couple who dote on their dog as much as they do their charge.

The one piece of stability in Primrose's life is The Girl on a Red Swing — the local restaurant where everything is served on a waffle. Primrose spends her free time there, learning how to cook and getting sage advice from the only adult who seems willing to believe her. As food is such a part of Primrose's life, each chapter ends with a recipe.

I listened to the book on audio on a family trip. It was entertaining enough to keep the entire family occupied on an otherwise long drive.

Kim Tyo-Dickerson

Read alike: THREE TIMES LUCKY by Sheila Turnage

Audrey Lord

Ellie Younger

Kathleen Mullins

Primrose Squarp simply knows her parents did not perish at sea during a terrible storm, but try convincing the other residents of Coal Harbour on that score. For all practical purposes, at least for the time being, Primrose is an orphan, and there's no great clamoring of prospective adopters. After realizing the impracticality of continuing to pay Miss Perfidy (a mothball-scented elderly lady) an hourly wage to baby-sit her, the town council is able to locate a relative, Uncle Jack, who reluctantly takes Primrose into his care. Primrose does warm up to living with him and in his home, despite the eerie noises resembling a hockey game that haunt her in the night. But true sanctuary can always be found at a restaurant called The Girl in the Swing, where everything--including lasagna--is served on a waffle, and where the proprietor, Miss Bowzer, offers a willing ear, as well as sage advice. Through a mixture of eccentric humor and probing philosophy, author Polly Horvath makes Primrose's search for peace and understanding a most memorable one. Everything on a Waffle is a 2001 Boston Globe - Horn Book Award Honor Book for Fiction and Poetry and a 2002 Newbery Honor Book.

Everything on a Waffle

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