Everything on a Waffle

Everything on a Waffle is a novel written by Polly Horvath is a delightful and hilarious story about a eleven-year old girl named Primrose Squarp who thinks her parents have been lost at sea. Everyone else in the small town of Coal Harbour thinks that her parents died when her father went into a nasty storm to find her mother, but Primrose believes in her heart that they will return home someday. Until then, Primrose, a now orphan, has to live with her Uncle Jack. In this witty and coming-of-age novel, Primrose observes the different qualities in the various humans she interacts with and through many small adventures and mix-ups, finds her place in Coal Harbour. Eventually and to everyone's surprise, Primrose's parents find their way home after many months of truly being lost at sea. Primrose is united back with her family with a newly-found look on life.

This was an amazing story that was filled with quirky characters, delicious recipes and a unique plot line. Primrose was a such an easy character to like, and I found myself rooting for her all the way! There were so many funny, sad and interesting events that happened in this story, and I felt like it was very easy to maintain my interest while reading. I love the idea of using this story in a middle school classroom as a unit book. Each student would get a copy of the book and dates on when they should read each chapter. A fun activity would be to use this book in literature circles, where the class is divided into three groups and each member has a role and activity assigned to them. For example, there would be an activity packet that is to include a character sketch, a written summary, a question generator, and a word wizard/definition page. All students would work together in their group to complete the literature circle.

Horvath, Polly. (2001). Everything on a waffle. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.