middle grade fiction

dishing up eggs over evie by alison jackson (and there’s cake)!

~ jama ~ 2 Comments

RECIPE FOR EGGS OVER EVIE

1 girl, age thirteen
2 parents, divorced
1 dog, big and friendly
1 cranky old neighbor
1 stepmom expecting twins
1 cute cooking partner
Lots of eggs
Pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients without crowding the pan. And don’t forget to sprinkle in a quirky teacher, a missing cat, and a few snob dinners with Chef Dad. Stir gently!

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As soon as I finished reading Alison Jackson’s Eggs Over Evie, I just had to try one of the many recipes included in the book. It was the perfect way to extend my enjoyment of this sweet and savory story about budding chef Evie Carson, who lives with her Mom.

Cooking helps Evie cope with some of the changes and adjustments that come with being the child of divorced parents. She’s always shared a special bond with her Dad, a celebrity chef and cookbook author who married his young editor (now expecting twins). When he moves to a condo on the other side of the lake, he takes their dog and all traces of their family life with him. Making soufflés, pies, pizzas, cookies and brownies helps Evie stay connected to her father. Challenges such as learning how to get along with her new stepmom, reaching out to a grumpy neighbor who’s lost her cat, making a new friend at cooking class, and accepting her mom’s new dating status, all provide unique opportunities for character development.

Evie bakes a Red Velvet Cake for her neighbor, whose cat’s gone missing.

Evie’s voice is authentic and engaging, and I like how the story focuses on her personal relationships without glossing over the difficulties of divorce. Her vulnerability and true-to-life reactions endear her to the reader, and the minor characters are well drawn for such a short novel. Of course I especially appreciated how the food theme was extended throughout with quotes from famous chefs and a recipe and cooking tip for each chapter.

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soup of the day: the great wall of lucy wu by wendy wan-long shang!

~ jama ~ 4 Comments

“When we sat down to dinner, even I had to admit that Yi Po’s dumplings were something special. Better than the dumplings Mom bought at the store, better than the ones at Panda Café. There were lots of different flavors in the filling — a little ginger, a little garlic, some sesame oil — and they all stood out and blended together in turns. Every bite left me wanting more.” ~ Wendy Wan-Long Shang, The Great Wall of Lucy Wu


Dribble, dribble, pass, shoot . . . SCORE!!

*the crowd roars and chants*

“Wen-dy, Wen-dy, Wen-dy, Wen-dy!”

It’s our very first Soup of the Day celebration this year, and we can’t stop cheering for Virginia author Wendy Wan-Long Shang! Her debut middle grade novel, The Great Wall of Lucy Wu (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2011) has officially hit the streets!! 

You know how excited I get about first books. Well, my normal level of enthusiasm is ramped up to the nines for this tender, funny, poignant and indescribably delicious story. Love love love it! *smacks lips*

Eleven-year-old Lucy Wu is looking forward to having a perfect year: she and her fellow six graders will rule the school, she’s going to try out for captain of the basketball team, and her “Miss Perfect” sister Regina is going off to college, so she’ll have their room all to herself. Lucy can’t wait to start decorating! But her all great plans begin to crumble when she learns her long-lost great-aunt Yi Po will be visiting from Shanghai and staying in her room — not for a week or two, but for several months!

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soup of the day: sugar and ice by kate messner!

~ jama ~ 1 Comment

“The pace of the music picked up as she gathered speed, and everything left her except the feel of the cold air on her face, her blades on the ice, her movements in time to the music.” ~ Kate Messner, Sugar and Ice

It’s time to put on our sparkly skirts, lace up our skates, and do a triple toe loop and a couple of flying spins to celebrate the official release today of Kate Messner’s brand new middle grade novel, Sugar and Ice (Walker, 2010)!!

Last year, Kate gave us The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z (Walker, 2009), which won the E.B. White Read Aloud Award, definitely enhanced my appreciation for autumn leaves, and got me hooked on  introduced me to a delicious distraction called Nonna’s Funeral Cookies (nom nom).

And now, with Sugar and Ice, we have a small town maple farm, the fascinating world of competitive figure skating, a bit of beekeeping, a Thai restaurant, a Fibonacci school project, a cast of interesting, fully-realized, believable characters, and a highly palatable menu of enticing edibles: hot chocolate, corn chowder, egg salad and turkey sandwiches, pad thai, pizza, PopTarts, and *wait for it* — blueberry pancakes!

PANCAKES PANCAKES PANCAKES!


Ricotta Hotcakes (recipe here) from michelle une-deux senses/flickr.

Mmmmmmmmmmm. Tall stack dripping with melted butter and maple syrup. Want. (You will soon want, too. Trust me.)

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blue plate special: when molly was a harvey girl by frances m. wood

~ jama ~ 1 Comment

“Molly sponged the spilled coffee. She took orders from the crew of a night train bringing lumber over Raton Pass. She tried hard to stay awake. But at four in the morning, when the baker arrived to start his work, she was lulled into dreams by the odors of yeast, sugar and fruit. She stood, leaning against the cup shelf, and saw pies, endless pies. Alice-in-Wonderland pies, dancing do-si-dos behind her shut eyelids.” (Chapter 6, When Molly Was a Harvey Girl).

Author Frances M. Wood (above) was inspired by her great-grandmother, Jennie, who became a Harvey Girl in 1887.

All aboard!

If you were traveling in the Southwest on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad in the late 1880’s, you’d probably stop to eat at a Harvey House lunch room or restaurant. You’d be mighty glad it was there — a spotless, efficiently-run establishment serving generous portions of delicious food at affordable prices.

Care for some warm cinnamon buns, a stack of orange pancakes, oatmeal with honey and a side of ham? How about a sandwich (meatloaf, corned beef or chicken salad), or maybe you’re in the mood for pork chops with gravy, a thick steak or hearty beef stew? Of course the coffee is always good — big urns of freshly brewed, steamy hot coffee ready to perk you up after those long hours on the train. For dessert? The pies here are cut in fourths. Mm–mmmmm!

All Harvey Houses baked and hand sliced their own bread, which had to be 3/8″ thick.

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soup of the day: touch blue by cynthia lord!

~ jama ~ 1 Comment

“Reaching into my pocket, I touch that lucky-blue sea glass and try to cram all my wishes about Aaron into one. Please let this plan work.” ~ Tess from Touch Blue


Maine blue lobster postcard available from paflip25.

Guess what just came ashore?

Hint: it’s heartwarming, funny, takes place on a small island in Maine, was inspired by a true story, and was written by one of my favorite children’s book authors.

Oh, and it’s beautifully, bountifully, breathtakingly BLUE!

Yes! Touch Blue, Cynthia Lord’s second middle grade novel, is officially out today! Big cause for celebration. BIG. Because ever since I read her Newbery Honor-winning debut novel, Rules (Scholastic, 2007), I’ve been hungry for more more more. As luck would have it, I did not receive my promised review copy from the publisher (ahem!), but I did receive the copy I pre-ordered online a few days early, just in time to write this post! I’m pretty sure I finally got lucky because I blogged about blue for most of last week, while I was wishing, wishing ☺.

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