Everything On A Waffle

Title: Everything On A Waffle
Author: Polly Horvath
Pages: 150
Date Published: 2001
Age Groups: 8-13

Plot

In a small Canadian fishing village, there is a little eleven-year old girl named Primrose Squarp. Primrose likes sweaters and views things from a sometimes bizarre perspective. But when Primrose's parents supposedly perish at sea, a everyone is scrambling to get her into foster care... or the care of her active and busy Uncle Jack. But Primrose knows her parents didn't die at sea. She knows they are still alive, even if everybody doesn't exactly believe her.

At first, Uncle Jack is reluctant to take Primrose in, and Primrose is not sure if he likes her or not, but then she gradually starts to like him, even if he leaves her at home all the time while he sells real estate, and lets older boys use his gym while she is home.

Primrose's favorite restaurant is The Girl On The Red Swing, where she goes to help the owner, Miss Bowzer, and collect recipes. At The Girl On The Red Swing, everything is served on a waffle, even Shepard's Pie.

As Primrose goes through her twisted and odd life without parents, accidents, a dog, and a rude Miss Honeycut, she finds many people who make her laugh, feel sad, and feel happy.


Main Characters 

Primrose Squarp: Primrose is an eleven-year-old Canadian girl who is newly "orphaned", and has a unique and sometimes bizarre perspective of things. She takes her uncle's dog to the beach often. Miss Honeycut thinks she is emotionally unstable, on account of her constant injuries and such.


Uncle Jack: Uncle Jack is the charming, blonde uncle of Primrose Squarp. He is a developer. Jack has a gym in his house that he lets the boys at Primrose's school use. Miss Honeycut is constantly blushing around him. Uncle Jack is very "heroic" at times. His dog is named Mallomar.

Miss Honeycut: Miss Honeycut is the closest thing Coal Harbour has for a guidance counselor. She is very snippy and rude, and she has "royal blood". Miss Honeycut is always arranging "talks" with her and Primrose during school about Primrose's parents and her "issues", but Miss Honeycut shows an obvious dislike for Primrose, and thinks she will hurt herself if she is left alone. Primrose says her Pear soup tastes terrible, and she even gives a recipe for it.

Miss Perfidy: An old woman whom the town was paying to take care of Primrose for a short while. Miss Perfidy has an odd habit of walking out of a room as soon as Primrose is about to say something. I think Miss Perfidy stated she had something similar to deja vu, but Primrose stated that she thought Miss Perfidy was "failing". Primrose says Miss Perfidy's biscuits taste horrible, and she gives a recipe for them also. Apparently, she always smells of mothballs.

Miss Bowzer: The owner and chef of The Girl On The Red Swing, Primrose's favorite restaurant. She has a lively friendship with Primrose, although she despises Prim's uncle because he wants to have Miss Bowzer's restaurant torn down so something classier can be built. Miss Bowzer shows Primrose how to cook many foods; a lot of Primrose's recipes are from Miss Bowzer. Miss Bowzer hates Miss Honeycut.

Mallomar: Mallomar is Uncle Jack's, preferably Primrose's, dog. Primrose named her after her favorite cookie; she describes her as "round and white and black like a Mallomar". Mallomar grows from a young puppy who likes to chase the seagulls on the beach Primrose takes her to, to a more mature but loving puppy.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this was a very odd, dramatic, and funny children's book that kept me reading without interruptions almost the whole way through. I loved the recipes at the end of each chapter, and Primrose was such and interesting character, who always had the funniest and most backwards things to say to adults.