Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath

Horvath, Polly. Everything on a Waffle. New York: FSG, 2001.

“I live in Coal Harbor, British Columbia. I have never lived anyplace else. My name is Primrose Squarp. I am eleven years old. I have hair the color of carrots in apricot glaze (recipe to follow), skin fair and clear where it isn’t freckled, and eyes like summer storms” (3).

Primrose is satisfied with her life. She has a mother and a father. She’s happy, but things change one day in June. There’s a bad storm. Her dad’s out fishing. Her mom goes to find him. They don’t return.

“There was a memorial service for my parents but I wouldn’t go. I knew that my parents hadn’t drowned. I suspected that they had washed up on an island somewhere and were waiting to be rescued. Every morning I went down to the docks to watch the boats come in, sure that I would see my parents towed in, perhaps on the back of a whale” (4).

Primrose never doubts that her parents are still alive. She endures forgetful old ladies, careless uncles, and nosy guidance counselors. Is Primrose right about her parents being alive? To find out, read Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath.