Tom Angleberger - Hope Wins: A Collection of Inspiring Stories for Young Readers

Hope Nation

Dear Reader,

In 2018, I published a book called Hope Nation, sort of an older sibling of the book you are reading, because I wanted to share stories of hope with the teens in my life who were struggling. Since then, Ive been lucky enough to visit with young people who have read stories from that collection, and I have gotten to hear about how those stories have helped them through hard times and made them feel a little less alone.

In 2020, the world as we had known it changed. COVID-19 changed the landscape of how we live, look, go to school, and interact with others. The daily reminder of how our own lives can be turned upside down made me realize why its so important to hang on to hope. Its not always an easy thing to dosometimes, it feels downright impossiblebut the thing I know is that difficult times in life come and go; with those experiences, we grow as people. The key is to find ways to motivate and inspire our spiritsstories of hope can do that.

In this collection, Ive asked some of my very favorite writers and friends to share a true story from their own personal lives. I hope hearing them share their own stories of challenges theyve faced in life will help you find your own voice. Each of us has a story thats worth sharing and celebrating.

Its also worth noting that, like choosing hope, we can choose to do good, and for that reason, Hope Wins is a charitable endeavor. My contributors committed to creating this book with me as a means to support the North Texas Teen Book Festival (NTTBF), an annual book festival that serves thousands of young readers each year. For their willingness to dig into their memory chests and share with everyone, I thank them all and am forever grateful.

For me, making a decision to choose hope is grounded in the love and support I receive from my family and friends, especially my daughters, Madeleine and Olivia, and my husband, Michael. Thanks to each of you for joining me on this journey. Its not always an easy path, but its one worth taking. Remember that no matter what happens, hope wins.

Dr. Rose Brock

Grapevine, Texas

2022

by Christina Soontornvat

This is not a knock to any of my teachers, but the most important things Ive learned werent taught to me in a classroom. They were taught to me in a restaurant dining room (and the kitchen and the cashiers station).

When I was three years old, my parents opened a restaurant in the small town of Weatherford, Texasthe first Asian restaurant in the whole county. My dad, an immigrant from Thailand, saw it as an incredible business opportunity. He was right: loyal customers kept our little family restaurant open for nearly forty years.

When I was a kid, I never gave much thought to what it meant to grow up in that environmentit was just my everyday life. If you had asked me then what the best part of spending so much time at the restaurant was, I would have said it was the endless flow of fountain drinks and free spring rolls.

But now I realize that I learned some big, important lessons about people and about life. And nowlike a crispy, hot spring roll passed from fryer to plateI pass these lessons on to you.

Our busiest shift of the week was Sunday lunch. Almost the whole town of Weatherford went to church on Sunday mornings, and then they would show up at our door as soon as the services were over. Wed often have a line that stretched out onto the sidewalk!

Most of the people who lived in our town attended Christian churches. And then they came to eat food prepared for them by people who were mostly Buddhists. When we first opened, we called ourselves a Chinese restaurant because at that time (in 1983), people there werent familiar with Thai food. Over the years, we gradually introduced more and more Thai cuisine to the menu. And we also introduced more and more people to Thailand and our culture. Some of our customers even took trips to visit Thailand. Sometimes they met up with our family who lived over there! So many connections were made between Thailand and Texas: two places that are on opposite sides of the globe from each other. And it all started with food.

Food is simple and primal. It is unifying. I wish people in this world had more chances to share food with each other. How can you be angry when youre chowing down on a dish of garlic chicken? How can you judge someone when youre sharing a plate of dumplings with them?