middle grade fiction

soup of the day: dumpling days by grace lin!

~ jama ~ 29 Comments

“There was no day that dumplings couldn’t make better.” ~ Pacy Lin

Pass the dipping sauce, I’m in dumpling heaven. ☺

I’m thrilled to be serving up Newbery Honor Author Grace Lin’s brand new middle grade novel, Dumpling Days (Little, Brown, 2012), as our very first Soup of the Day for the new year!

Before I tell you a little about it and tempt you with some of its dishes, please put on BOTH of these bibs. You’ll definitely need double protection for this fabulous feast of a book, which is absolutely brimming with gustatory goodness.

 

Oh, and don’t forget your passport:

 

In this third novel featuring beloved heroine Pacy Lin, she and her family spend an entire month in Taiwan visiting relatives and preparing for Grandma’s 60th birthday party. Instead of traveling to her parents’ faraway homeland, Pacy would much rather spend her summer going to a fun place like Hawai’i or California where she could see her best friend Melody. But her parents want Pacy and her sisters to “know their roots,” to experience the “island of treasure.”

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loving lisa schroeder’s sprinkles and secrets

~ jama ~ 14 Comments
Cover Bear Pauline loves this book!

We’ve been having lots of fun recently in the Alphabet Soup kitchen thanks to Lisa Schroeder’s Sprinkles and Secrets (Aladdin, 2011).

*nibbles on a Monster Cookie*

Not only have I reread this totally scrumptious companion book to It’s Raining Cupcakes (Aladdin, 2010), but I made Monster Cookies — one of two recipes included in the book (the other is Isabel’s prize-winning Chocolate Jam Tarts). Perfect way to get into the holiday spirit AND indulge my neverending cookie cravings.

Just in case you haven’t read Sprinkles and Secrets (please remedy that immediately!), it’s about Isabel’s best friend Sophie, an aspiring actress who gets her big chance to audition for a television commercial. She’s thrilled, of course, until she finds out she’d be advertising for Beatrice’s Brownies, the chief competitor to Isabel’s family’s cupcake shop. She tries to keep the specifics of the commercial under wraps for fear of jeopardizing her friendship with Isabel, but things go from bad to worse when she wins the audition and still can’t bear to tell Izzy. How do you choose between your fondest dream and your BFF?

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soup of the day: hound dog true by linda urban

~ jama ~ 25 Comments

“You’ve got to trust the moon, if you want the moon to trust you,” he said, handing Mattie his hat. (Uncle Potluck from Hound Dog True)

I’m absolutely over the moon today because it’s the official book birthday of Linda Urban’s brand new middle grade novel, Hound Dog True (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011)!!

So glad you’re here for the celebration. Are you wearing your party clothes (pajamas would be best)? For the duration of this post, please put on these sparkly mouse ears,

 

and a pair of rubber gloves.

 

(They’ll help you channel the main character of the story.) Continue reading →

pishlets for roald dahl’s birthday

~ jama ~ 12 Comments

“I have always longed and longed to own a sweet-shop. The sweet-shop of my dreams would be loaded from top to bottom with Sherbet Suckers and Caramel Fudge and Russian Toffee and Sugar Snorters and Butter Gumballs and thousands and thousands of other glorious things like that.” (The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me by Roald Dahl)

“Nose Bags On, Grubs Up!”

Happy Roald Dahl Day!

I can’t think of any other children’s author who invented quite as many wildly imaginative fantasy treats for his stories — from lickable wallpaper to the pickled spines of porcupines to hot noodles made from poodles on a slice of garden hose. I’m convinced I would have done much better in school if I had had some candy-coated pencils for sucking in class. Perhaps the reason I’m so obsessed with food now is because I grew up without mosquitoes’ toes and wampfish roes most delicately fried. Good theory, in any case. ☺

 

From all accounts, Roald was a lifelong foodie. In her introduction to Roald Dahl’s Even More Revolting Recipes, Felicity Dahl mentions that many of the letters Roald wrote to his mother while he was in boarding school included a request for food. It was quite a challenge fulfilling his every craving, especially when it involved raw eggs. He also asked her to send him a Primus stove so he could cook some of those raw ingredients. Continue reading →

soup of the day: the absolute value of mike by kathryn erskine!

~ jama ~ 1 Comment

 

Hey, hey!

The clock on the wall says it’s time to celebrate Kathy Erskine’s brand new middle grade novel, The Absolute Value of Mike (Philomel, 2011)!

Before we proceed any further, please select your party shoes. You may choose between yellow sneakers,

 

or duck slippers (quacking optional).

 

Heck, let’s go all the way. Put on this pink “Life is Good” cap while you’re at it.

 

There now! Ready?

I was very excited to read Kathy’s new book because I absolutely adored her National Book Award winner, Mockingbird (Philomel, 2010). Maybe you’re thinking what I was thinking: How could she possibly top that? By showcasing her versatility and writing something completely different, of course!

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