Tag Archives: baking

Delicious: Fiction to Inspire Summertime Culinary Adventures

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With warmer weather and longer days, why not spend a little extra time cooking up something tasty and new? The characters in these children’s and young adult books sure do! Food has a notable presence in youth literature, perhaps because of the close relationship between food and culture. Writers of fiction also can rely on the highly sensory nature of food to create stimulating, immersive language. But mostly, food is a fun topic to read about. The stories in this list all focus on delicious meals or sweet treats but do so in a variety of ways. A few stories use food as a creative literary device, incorporating magical realism or science fiction scenarios in the dynamics of the kitchen. Several stories involve high-stakes culinary contests to drive the plot. Other stories simply highlight the power of food to bring people together. Enjoy some delicious summer reading!

Acevedo, Elizabeth
With the Fire on High. 2019 (Young Adult Fiction).
With her daughter to care for and her abuela to support, high school senior Emoni Santiago has a lot of responsibilities. The one place she can feel free is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness. Still, she feels too pressed for time to join her school’s new culinary arts class and lacks the money for the class’s trip to Spain, all of which would bring her closer to her dream of someday working in a professional kitchen. With a little encouragement and a whole lot of heart, Emoni takes the steps to begin to make her goals a reality. The touches of magical realism in this story will bring readers closer to Emoni’s perspective as she experiences the tribulations of life and the joys of cooking!
S. Ac371wi

Bingham, Winsome
Illustrated by: C. G. Esperanza
Soul Food Sunday. 2021 (Picture Book).
This vibrant picture book is a celebration of food, traditions, and gathering around a table. At Granny’s, Sunday isn’t Sunday without the whole family feasting on a lovingly prepared Soul Food meal. The book’s young narrator is finally old enough to help cook the dishes for the first time. He joins Granny in grating the cheese, cleaning the greens, and priming the meat for Roscoe Ray’s grill. But just when Granny says they are finished, her grandson makes his own contribution, sweetening this Sunday gathering and many more to come.
Q. SE. B5138so

Delaney, Rachelle
Alice Fleck’s Recipes for Disaster. 2021 (Middle Grade Fiction).
Alice Fleck’s father is a culinary historian, and she always helps him recreate meals from the past, something she would rather the other kids her age not know. But when her father’s new girlfriend enters them into a cooking competition at a Victorian festival, Alice finds herself and her secret hobby thrust into the spotlight, as the festival competition turns out to be a new televised cooking competition show hosted by Tom Truffleman, the most famous and fierce judge on TV! Alice begins to suspect that someone is sabotaging the competition behind the scenes, so it’s up to her, with the help of a few new friends, to find the saboteur before the entire competition is ruined, all the while tackling some of the hardest cooking challenges of her life in the public eye.
S. D3735al

Faruqi, Saadia and Laura Shovan
A Place at the Table. 2020 (Middle Grade Fiction).
Sixth-graders Sara, a Pakistani American, and Elizabeth, a white, Jewish girl meet when they take a South Asian cooking class taught by Sara’s mom. The two girls could not be more different. Sara misses the familiarity of the small Islamic school she used to attend now that she is at a huge new school. Elizabeth has her own problems: her British mum has been struggling with depression. When they attend the after-school cooking class, which Elizabeth takes because her mom has stopped cooking, and which Sara, who hates to cook, is forced to attend because her mother is the teacher, the girls form a shaky alliance that gradually deepens. Together they make plans to create the most amazing, mouth-watering cross-cultural dish together and win a spot on a local food show. This story embraces cultural differences through food and showcases true friendship.
S. F2512pl

Iwai, Melissa
Dumplings for Lili. 2021 (Picture Book).
Lili loves to cook little dumplings called baos with her grandmother, but one day they find they don’t have cabbage needed for cooking. Lili asks to borrow some from an elderly neighbor. Along the way, Lili discovers that her other neighbors are also lacking crucial components for their recipes, so she races up and down the stairs of the apartment building to coordinate the exchange of ingredients so every neighbor can make their respective dumpling-like foods, from Jamaican meat patties and Italian ravioli to Lebanese fatayer and more. This picture book is a culinary tour of the world, all in one building!
Q. SE. Iw12du

LaMotte, Lily
Illustrated by: Ann Xu
Measuring Up. 2020 (Middle Grade Graphic Novel).
Twelve-year-old Cici has just moved from Taiwan to Seattle, and the only thing she wants more than to fit in at her new school is to bring her Taiwanese grandmother A-má to America for a visit, but how would she pay for it? Cici cooks up a plan to buy a plane ticket for A-má by trying to win the grand prize in a kids’ cooking contest. However, Cici only knows how to cook Taiwanese food and the contest will include American food challenges. After a librarian introduces her to Julia Child’s cooking, Cici works hard to improve her culinary skills. Can Cici find a winning recipe to reunite with A-má, a way to fit in with her new friends, and somehow find herself too? The Manga-inspired, full-color art of this graphic novel brings the delicious, heartwarming tale to life.
S.741.5973 L193me

LaRocca, Rajani
Illustrated by: Rachel Suggs
Midsummer’s Mayhem. 2019 (Middle Grade Fiction).
Can Mimi undo the mayhem caused by her baking in this contemporary-fantasy retelling of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream? For eleven-year-old Mimi it’s easy to feel invisible in such a big, accomplished American Indian family, but when she discovers a contest at the mysterious new bakery in town, there’s a chance for her to prove she’s not the least-talented member of her family. Plus, it’ll start her on the path to becoming a celebrity chef like her culinary idol, Puffy Fay. Drawn into the woods behind her house by a strangely familiar song, Mimi meets Vik, a boy who brings her to parts of the forest she’s never seen. Who knew there were banyan trees and wild boars in Massachusetts? Together they discover exotic ingredients and bake them into delectable and enchanting treats. But as her dad begins to act strange and her siblings’ romantic entanglements cause trouble in their town, Mimi begins to wonder whether the ingredients she and Vik found are somehow the cause of it all. Amidst the mayhem, Mimi learns that in life, as in baking, not everything is sweet. This delicious middle grade novel explores themes of family, friendship, and self-confidence.
S. L3269mi

Mannaert, Wauter
Translated by: Montana Kane
Chef Yasmina and the Potato Panic. 2021 (Middle Grade Graphic Novel).
Young chef Yasmina is the only one who can protect her town from an onslaught of scientifically enhanced, highly addictive potatoes. Yasmina isn’t like the other kids in her city, but no one can deny that she has a flair for food. All she needs to whip up a gourmet meal is a recipe from her cookbook and fresh vegetables from the community garden. But everything gets turned upside down when the garden is bulldozed and replaced with a strange new crop of potatoes. Her neighbors can’t get enough of these spuds! After just a nibble of one of the potatoes, their behavior changes: they slobber, chase cats, and howl at the moon. What’s the secret ingredient in these potatoes that has everyone acting like a bunch of crazed canines? It’s up to Yasmina to find a cure, and fast! With delicately sketched art spreads and sparse text, this action-packed graphic novel explores an entertaining science fiction premise.
S.741.5944 M3159ya:E

Reck, Jared
Donuts and Other Proclamations of Love. 2021 (Young Adult Fiction)
While his friends prepare for college, high school senior Oscar decides his future is working with his Swedish grandfather Farfar on their food truck “Hej Hej!,” but when Oscar unexpectedly gets his first taste of adulthood, he realizes his plans may be half-baked. Lou Messinger is the opposite of Oscar: AP everything, valedictorian in her sights, and Ivy league college aspirations. When Lou hijacks Oscar’s carefully crafted schedule of independent studies and blocks of time in the Culinary Lab, Oscar is roped into helping Lou complete her resume-building service project: reducing food waste in Central Adams High School. As festival season begins, Oscar and Lou begin to see past their differences and grow closer. This sweet young adult novel covers more than just romance. Social justice issues like food insecurity, drug addiction, and white supremacy are woven throughout the plot. Readers will fall in love with Oscar and Farfar’s close relationship as well as their delectable food truck treats.
S. R2442do

Tamaki, Jillian
Our Little Kitchen. 2020 (Picture Book).
In this lively, rousing picture book from Caldecott Honoree Jillian Tamaki, a crew of resourceful neighbors comes together to prepare a meal for their community. With a garden full of produce, a joyfully chaotic kitchen, and a friendly meal shared at the table, this story is a celebration of full bellies and looking out for one another. Tamaki’s illustrations use many graphic novel conventions, with speech bubbles, dynamic spreads, and bold lines. Additional back matter includes recipes and an author’s note about the volunteering experience that inspired the book.
Q. SE. T152ou

KF

Sweet Treats, Sweet Reads

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Summertime and the living is easy – the hustle and bustle of the school year is over, and the hot weather and slower pace mean more time for dessert! There’s nothing quite like licking a refreshing ice cream cone while walking down the sidewalk on a sunny day, except for maybe curling up with a good book and a cookie while sitting on the porch. Either way, books and food go hand in hand, and there are various kinds, ranging from cookbooks to stories about cooking contests, friendships forged in the kitchen, and more. Whichever you choose, the following list is guaranteed to make you smile and immediately head to the kitchen to whip up your own delicious summer dessert.

To find more books about sweet treats, try searching the catalog using a combination of subject terms like “juvenile fiction” for fiction books or “juvenile literature” for nonfiction books along with “baking,” “cooking,” “bakeries,” “cooks,” or other food related terms.

Cali, Davide.
Good Morning, Neighbor. 2018 (Picture Book)
One morning, a mouse wanted an omelet, and went to ask his neighbor Blackbird to borrow an egg. However, Blackbird didn’t have one either, instead producing flour and suggesting that they go ask his neighbor, Dormouse, for an egg so they can make a cake. And so the delicious dream is born, and readers follow along as the ever-growing parade of animals ask their neighbors for the needed ingredients. With soft illustrations created in earth tones and repetitive narration, this soothing book about sharing helps readers see the power of what can happen when you contribute to the greater good of the group.
[S-Collection Q. SE. C12823go]

Good Housekeeping.
Kids Bake! 100+ Sweet and Savory Recipes. 2018 (Nonfiction)
This very accessible cookbook provides recipes for young bakers who are ready to whip up some delicious treats. The introduction goes over basic baking rules, like the types of equipment, common ingredients, measurements, nutrition information, vocabulary, and safety in order to make sure that kids are ready to go in the kitchen. The mouth-watering treats shown in beautiful photos include Swirl Brownies, Raspberry-Lemon Pound Cake, Fluffy Apple-Cheddar Biscuits, and more. Your taste buds better be ready for a rollercoaster of flavor with these recipes!
[S-Collection S.641.815 K541]

Hopkinson, Deborah.
Independence Cake: A Revolutionary Confection Inspired by Amelia Simmons, Whose True History is Unfortunately Unknown. 2017 (Picture Book Based on a Real Person)
The details of Amelia Simmons’ life are “lost, simmered away in the pot of time,” but we do know that she was the author of America’s first cookbook. This picture book imagines the details of her life, where perhaps she was orphaned and sent to help Mrs. Bean around the house with her six sons, who gratefully lets Amelia experiment with the cooking to her heart’s content. The bright pastel colors and fun turns of phrase related to the colonies and cooking bring Amelia’s dreams to life, and the cherry on top is when she is chosen to bake a cake for President Washington’s inauguration. The recipe for Independence Cake and an author’s note only add to this delectable delight of a book.
[S-Collection Q. SE. H777i]

Janowitz, Jessie.
The Doughnut Fix. 2018 (YA Novel)
Tristan loves to cook, with the added bonus that he is better at it than his “Gifted and Talented” younger sister Jeanine. Life is pretty good, especially with chocolate chip cookies, but when his parents decide that they’re moving to the middle of nowhere, all seems hopeless. Things start looking up when Tristan sees a sign that says, “Yes, we do have chocolate cream doughnuts!”, but even that betrays him when he discovers that the owner hasn’t made them in years. Tristan feels like the only thing he can do to make things better is get the recipe, make the doughnuts himself, and have his own doughnut stand. Can he run a successful business all on his own?
[S-Collection S. J2643do]
If you like this one, look for the sequel, The Doughnut King!

Leone, Dee.
Dough Knights and Dragons. 2017 (Picture Book)
In this rhyming picture book that is perfect for a read aloud, a knight discovers a hidden kitchen in the forest with unique ingredients, so naturally he can’t resist making a stew. When the dragon owner returns, he asks for a share of the dinner, beginning a forbidden friendship founded on their love of cooking and creating new recipes. However, tradition states that when they come of age, a knight must kill a dragon and a dragon must eat a knight. When the unlikely pair discover a unique loophole to their terrible predicament, they work to bring the two feuding species together through food, for they know that the best friendships are forged in the cooking fire.
[S-Collection Q. SE. L5537d]

Nelson, Suzanne.
Cake Pop Crush (Wish #1). 2016 (Middle Grades Novel)
Alicia Ramirez loves baking, and her specialty is cake pops. Unfortunately, her traditional father disapproves of the trendy treat and refuses to serve them at the family bakery, Say It With Flour. However, when new kid Dane McGuire shows up and his rich CEO father opens a new branch of a fancy chain coffee shop across the street, Alicia hopes that her father will see how she can help keep the family business alive. The coffee shop is threatening their business, especially with Dane’s homemade treats. A bake-off challenge begins as Alicia and Dane fight not only for the title of cake-pop master, but for their family businesses as well. Readers will love the heaps of drama and cooking excitement, the realistic and heartwarming family relationships, and the dash of romance.
[S-Collection S. N3314c]

Neuschwander, Cindy.
Sir Cumference and the Off-the-Charts Dessert: A Math Adventure. 2013 (Teaching Picture Book)
Part of the Sir Cumference Math Adventure series, this delightful picture book is full of math puns and wordplay, helping kids learn without realizing it. Sir Cumference and Lady Di of Ameter need to select a dessert for the Harvest Faire, and so begins a baking contest between Pia of the French city of Chartres and Bart Graf of Germany. The townsfolk vote on their favorites, and Pia and Bart experiment with different methods of collecting their data to see who wins. This fun, fictional origin story of pie charts and bar graphs will entertain readers while exposing them to math concepts.
[S-Collection S.516 N398siro]

Remington, Laurel.
Secrets and Scones. 2018 (Middle Grades Novel)
Scarlett hates being star of her mom’s popular parenting blog, so she secludes herself, ending friendships and stopping activities so that there is nothing for her mom to write about, but it gets boring really fast. When an unfortunate accident leaves an elderly neighbor recovering in the hospital, the screech of a hungry cat lures Scarlett to the empty house and the most amazing kitchen she has ever seen. Unable to resist, she is soon baking a batch of scones from a handmade cookbook she found and forming a secret cooking club with a new friend. This exciting read follows Scarlett as she tries to keep her baking and friendship a secret from her nosy mom while also exploring her own identity.
[S-Collection S. R284se]

Simon, Coco.
Sunday Sundaes (Sprinkle Sundays #1). 2018 (Middle Grades Chapter Book)
Allie, Sierra, and Tamiko are best friends, but when Allie’s parents get divorced and she moves a town away, she’s scared of losing their friendship. So when her mom fulfills her dream of opening an ice cream shop, Allie thinks it would be a fantastic idea for her, Sierra, and Tamiko to work there together on Sundays to be able to spend some time together, and the Sunday Sundaes are born. However, it’s still hard dealing with new classmates and teachers, and readers will resonate with Allie’s realistic middle school feelings about change, friendship, and loneliness. This fun story is full of book references from bookworm Allie, delicious ice cream flavors to make your mouth water, and fantastic friendships both old and new.
[S-Collection S. Si531sssu]
Be sure to check out other books in the series, also found in the S-Collection! Cracks in the Cone #2, The Purr-fect Scoop #3, Ice Cream Sandwiched #4, and Sprinkles Before Sweethearts #5.

Strohm, Stephanie Kate.
Love à la Mode. 2018 (YA Novel)
Rosie Radeke is from East Liberty, Ohio, and while she loves to bake, never dreamed that she would be good enough to attend celebrity chef Denis Laurent’s cooking school. Henry Yi, on the other hand, grew up in the kitchen of his dad’s restaurant in Chicago and dreams of being a professional chef one day. They embark on the adventure of a lifetime, full of challenging cooking and academics, new friendships, and the amazing sights of Paris, desperate to prove themselves while navigating their newfound feelings. Readers will discover that if you take two teenage chefs and add an amazing opportunity at an elite cooking school in Paris where delicious food, pastries, and possibilities are everywhere, then you have the perfect recipe for romance.
[S-Collection S. St873lo]