soup of the day

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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soup of the day: holler loudly by cynthia leitich smith and barry gott!

~ jama ~ 1 Comment

*Warning: The following post may be too loud for readers with sensitive ears. Please wear adequate protection such as noise reduction headphones, earmuffs or earplugs. However, the consumption of loud foods (chips, crackers, raw carrots, crisp apples) is highly encouraged. ☺


alphabet soup bears enjoying the loudest book in the world.

“five . .  four . . . three . . . two, one . . .”

Wahoo! Yahoo! Two Big Hoots and a Holler!

While we’re at it, Yippee Ti Yi Yo yerselves to the nearest hitching post so I can yell tell ya about a brand new picture book just released a week ago: Holler Loudly by Cynthia Leitich Smith and Barry Gott!

If you’ve got clean ears, chances are good they’re already ringing with the good news of this rollicking Southwestern tall tale about a boy named Holler who was born with a BIG voice. So big, and so LOUD was his cry that “every hound dog in the county rolled up his ears and tossed back his head to bay . . . So LOUD the armadillos woke from their naps and the turkey vultures dropped their feathers.”

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soup of the day: thanking the moon by grace lin

~ jama ~ 2 Comments

Hi there! So glad you’re here.

I’ve just poured some tea, and am anxious to tell you all about Newbery Honor winner Grace Lin’s brand new picture book, Thanking the Moon: Celebrating the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival (Knopf, 2010), which is officially out today!

If, like me, you’re a big fan of Grace’s previous picture books featuring the Lin family (Dim Sum for Everyone!, Kite Flying, Fortune Cookie Fortunes, Bringing in the New Year), then you’re in for a real treat. This time, the three winsome sisters and their parents are observing this important holiday with a special evening picnic!

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soup of the day: little chimp’s big day by lisa schroeder and lisa mccue

~ jama ~ 1 Comment

 

Oo-oo-oo!

Hey, wild thing: grab a vine so we can swing through the jungle! We’ve got the perfect excuse to go totally bananas today, because Lisa Schroeder’s third book this year, Little Chimp’s Big Day (Sterling, 2010), is officially out!

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