Sweet and Sugary

Lately my kids have been obsessed with this show. They act it out in the car, on the playground, and since summer vacation has started, in the kitchen. Therefore it came as no surprise when my daughter became equally obsessed with a series of books starring a family of magic bakers. 

The Bliss family runs a special bakery in Calamity Falls. Middle child Rose dreams of becoming a kitchen magician like her parents. When her mother and father are called away to help with a flu epidemic, Rose finally has her chance to try out a few recipes from the sacred family cookbook. 

Before Rose has a chance to crack an egg, a stranger rides up on a flashy motorcycle and claims to be their long-lost Aunt Lily. Although her brothers quickly grow smitten, Rose is suspicious and convinces them to keep the cookbook (and pantry of magic ingredients) a secret from Lily. 

The arrival of Lily doesn't stop Rose from trying out a few recipes. First, she decides to play matchmaker by whipping up a batch of Love Muffins. Then she tries to cure a lonely customer of her tall tales with some Snickerdoodles of Truth. However, when the ingredients include eggs of masked lovebirds and tears from a warlock eye, things are bound to go wrong. And they do. 

Rose tries to fix the mess with an upside-down cake that leaves the town, well, not exactly upside down but definitely backwards. Soon she has no choice but to show Aunt Lily the cookbook in attempt to set things right. Lily helps save the day, but the temptations of a magic cookbook are too much to resist. Although this installment ends in a happy family reunion, the rogue aunt has set the scene for the second book of the series.  
With a fist of flour, and a pinch of magic, Kathryn Littlewood has filled Bliss with enough mystery, humor, and baked goods to appeal to the eight (or thirty-eight)-year-old in your family.

"Zine of the Month"

So my subscription to this magazine has long expired but my heart still did a little skip when I discovered Lynda Barry has a graphic novel about writing called What It Is. 

Through collage images and personal reflections, Barry takes us through her own discovery of writing as an artist and teacher. I was especially drawn to the section where she illustrates how to find a starting point for writing using word banks and images.

Take a deep breath, set your timer for seven minutes, and write about drugstores, refrigerators, or writer inspired fashion spreads featured in your once favorite magazine.

Lake People by Abi Maxwell

Alice's narrative frames the story of the women who came before her.  Although many of the women are mysteriously drawn to die in the lake, those who resist the pull include Alice's great aunt Signe and her grandmother Sophie.

Moving from Alice's discovery of her true parents in 1982 back through time to her grandmother Sophie's childhood and forward again, the novel interweaves Alice's discovery of her family through a richly vibrant cast of characters. I wish I had thought to compile the following as I was reading instead of after:

Eleanora - mother to Ida and Signe

Ida- mother to Sophie

Signe - aunt and foster mother to Sophie

Sophie (m. Otto Wickholm) - mother to Malcolm and Karl

Karl - father to Alice (dies before she is born and his girlfriend Jennifer Hill abandons the baby in the Wickholm's boathouse)

Malcom - uncle to Alice (finds baby Alice in the boathouse)

Paul Thornton - foster father who adopts baby Alice

Clara Thornton (Cici) - foster mother who leaves when Alice is a baby (Alice later visits her as an adult)

Mike and June Shaw - professional ski racer and his wife (Mike befriends Malcolm and later Paul and Alice)

Josh - Alice's first husband

Simon - befriends Alice when she lives on the island

Rose - finds Alice's love letters and later plays matchmaker for Alice and Simon

Word Gurrrl

I was browsing for books for my second grade bookworm when I came across a familiar name. Meg Wolitzer's  latest book - The Interestings - is on my to-read-list, so I was curious to see what a "Middle Zone" title of hers would be like in the meantime. 

Across the country, a loner, a skateboarder, and a black sheep find themselves preparing for the Youth Scrabble Tournament. Duncan has a unique power in his fingertips that his competitive teammate plans to exploit. Nate wants to skateboard and go to school like everyone else in his neighborhood. Instead, his father, once a finalist in the tournament, begins homeschooling him ... in Scrabble techniques. April sets out to prove to her athletic family that Scrabble is her sport. 

Wolitzer follows these kids from prep to game time and skillfully intersects their stories in the final tournament. Not only do they form friendships with their competitors, but they prove to themselves that they can succeed despite bullies, self-doubt, or parental pressure. 

While jumping from this book to Wolitzer's other fiction is not recommended for younger readers, they might enjoy this book by another favorite author.

The Grammarian by Annapurna Potluri

The story opens in 1911. Carrying English and Hindi dictionaries, a book of Sanskrit roots, and this guide, a young French philologist is traveling by train in India. His mission is to write a book on the local language Telugu for a European audience. Excited by the prospect of expanding his knowledge of the language, Alexandre Lautens is also quite taken by the sights and smells around him - the smell of petrol, the taste of fresh jackfruit, the flash of a pink sari. Arriving at his destination, he finds his accommodations even more comfortable than expected as a guest of the Adivi family. 

While trying to make their guest feel at home, the various members of the Adivi family are also preparing for the wedding of their youngest daughter. The eldest daughter, Anjali, somewhat removed from the festivities, offers to help with Alexandre's study. Wanting to return the favor, Alexandre decides to take her swimming. Innocent in intent, Alexandre soon discovers the impropriety is enough to cast him and Anjali out of the household. Their paths must diverge. Alexandre seeks refuge with a fellow European before his return to Paris while Anjali turns to political protest. 

Potluri sprinkles nominative declensions into lush descriptions of ritual dinners, wedding preparations, and everyday breakfasts.  Her strength is setting the scene with not only the right flower arrangement and bird song, but with the proper tension of cultural misunderstanding, youthful rebellion, and regret.  

Affectionately, Mr. Hair Shirt

Most summers in high school found me shelving books as a volunteer at the library. One afternoon in the midst of the H's, I stumbled across 84, Charing Cross Road. Working at a bookstore in college, I was introduced to Nick Bantock's Griffin and Sabine books. Most recently I was entranced to find that the somewhat unwieldy titled The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is also an epistolary novel.

Add to the list, then, Frances and Bernard by Carlene Bauer. Two writers meet at a writing colony (like this one) and start a correspondence. Bernard is an established poet who flirts from teaching post to teaching post. Frances, working on her first novel, lands a job in New York and moves into the infamous Barbizon. Both are Catholic, and much of their early ruminations center around faith. 

As their friendship grows, they also write letters confiding doubt, fear, and elation to their best friends. With references from Augustine to Weegee, the letters are crafted with humor, wit, and insight. You'll sigh at the romance, nod knowingly at the insecurity, and cringe at the hurtful. And just as eagerly as one used to open a letter, you'll turn the page to find out if they remain "ever yours."