Everything on a Waffle

Renowned Canadian/American author Polly Horvath published the middle-grade novel everything on a Waffle in 2001. Over two years, the book received numerous accolades, including Mr. Christie’s Book Award, the Boston Globe Horn Book Award, the ALSC Notable Children’s Book, a Newbery Honor Medal, and the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize. Written in the first person, 11-year-old narrator Primrose tells of her parents disappearing in a typhoon off the coast of British Columbia. Primrose discounts the universal assumption of citizens in her Coal Harbour community that her parents drowned. Deep within, she knows her parents are alive. She struggles against a duplicitous counselor who wants to remove her from the custody of a well-meaning but inept uncle and move her out of town into foster care. Primrose’s efforts to keep watch for parents’ return play out against a backdrop of consecutive catastrophes in a village populated by unique, quirky characters.

Summarized here is the 2008 Macmillan Square Fish paperback edition.

Content Warning: The book deals with the absence and possible loss of parents, fire-related destruction and injuries, endangering behaviors, and the death of an elderly character. In all, Horvath demonstrates that care systems, both for physical safety and for the emotional well-being of individuals, are in place and functioning.