Cook books
Starting off this post with some exciting personal news: Last month, a middle-grade manuscript I wrote was a finalist for the 2022 Tassy Walden Award for New Voices in Children’s Literature! I’m thrilled and grateful to be recognized by the wonderful Shoreline Arts Alliance. The manuscript is about a cooking competition, so as I was preparing to write my own tale, I wanted to read what else was out there. I found a lot of gems about cooking and cooking competitions for middle-grade readers. I hope you will find them as delicious as I did. Bon appetit!
A Place at the Table by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan (2020)
Written from alternating points of view, this book is a delightful and insightful read. Two sixth graders attend a cooking class together. One is Jewish, and the other is Pakistani American. They reluctantly form a team to create a fusion dish to win a spot on a TV show.
From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks (2020)
Zoe is laser focused on competing in a TV cooking show when she hears from her biological dad, who is incarcerated. They connect through music (playlist included!), and Zoe begins to investigate the truth about his past.
Alice Fleck’s Recipes for Disaster by Rachelle Delaney (2021)
Alice’s dad is a historical food scholar, and the two of them love to cook together. But when his girlfriend secretly enters them into a TV cooking competition, Alice is less than pleased. The host knows nothing about cooking, and the judge is cruel. Plus someone may be sabotaging the competitors. Lots of great suspense along with details of cooking history.
Love Sugar Magic series by Anna Meriano (started in 2018)
Leo’s family runs a bakery in their Texas town — a magical bakery. They infuse their baked goods with spells, and Leo can’t wait to learn herself. She’s not old enough to start her official lessons yet, so she takes matters into her own hands, creating a few magical and culinary catastrophes, all great fun for the reader.
Measuring Up by Lily LaMotte and Ann Xu (2020)
In this graphic novel, Cici moves to a new country, and the culture shock is acute. She misses her grandmother — her cooking partner — and enters a cooking competition to try to win money for her to visit.
Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai (2019)
Another graphic novel about how cooking can soothe the pain of relocation — and grief. After Jingwen’s father dies and the family moves, he plots to cook his father’s special recipes even though his mother forbids him to use the oven. Smart, beautiful, and touching.