Figurative/Flavorful
It was my fourteenth birthday, and I took to waitressing like a hungry trucker tackles a T-bone. (2)
The rest of the morning went down like cold rolls with a hot meal. (51)
[...] Addie's face had gotten all pink like an out-of-season strawberry. (147)
Bauer's style of writing is like a simile sandwich stuffed with food comparisons.
While the figurative language adds some flavor to Bauer's prose, it seems as if the author uses it to convey what's most important to Hope and Addie—food and diners. Hope tells us that, "I took to waitressing like a hungry trucker tackles a T-bone" (2), and her thoughts of returning to school sneak up on her "like indigestion" (153). Fortunately, the similes are spread just far enough apart—like rounded tablespoons of cookie dough on a baking sheet—to make them palatable.