When Hope is born prematurely, her mother, Deena, names her Tulip and gives her up for adoption. Deena’s sister, Addie, adopts Tulip, and Tulip legally changes her name to Hope at 12. Addie moves around the country as a diner cook and Hope waitresses, working her first job at the Rainbow Diner when she turns 14. Since her mother was once a waitress, Hope loves waiting tables and selling customers delicious food, but she is tired of moving. She and her aunt have lived in five different states, forcing Hope to change schools often. After Addie’s business partner at the Blue Box Diner, Gleason Beal, takes all the diner’s money and runs away with one of the waitresses, Addie and Hope move from New York City to Mulhoney, Wisconsin. Before leaving, Hope writes “HOPE WAS HERE” on the window, as she has in every place they have left (3). As they make the long drive, Hope thinks about how much she hates leaving places, especially saying goodbye to her friends.

As they drive, Addie frets over finding a good sausage seller and how to plan a successful menu for the new diner. Hope thinks about the boxes in the backseat that contain all her prized possessions including her dictionary, thesaurus, globe, and most importantly, her 11 scrapbooks.