Read for: Recently added
Synopsis: "Can Mimi undo the mayhem caused by her baking in this contemporary-fantasy retelling of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream?
Eleven-year-old Mimi Mackson comes from a big Indian American family: Dad's a renowned food writer, Mom's a successful businesswoman, and her three older siblings all have their own respective accomplishments. It's easy to feel invisible in such an impressive family, but Mimi's dream of proving she's not the least-talented member of her family seems possible when she discovers a contest at the new bakery in town. Plus, it'll start her on the path to becoming a celebrity chef like her culinary idol, Puffy Fay.
But when Mimi's dad returns from a business trip, he's mysteriously lost his highly honed sense of taste. Without his help, Mimi will never be able to bake something impressive enough to propel her to gastronomic fame.
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 acts stranger every day, 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. She needs to use her skills, deductive and epicurean, to uncover what's happened. In the process, she learns that in life, as in baking, not everything is sweet. . . "
My Review: When I saw this purple cover, I knew I had to read it, then I also found out it was a MG re-telling of Midsummer Night's Dream and it was even more enticing. This was a perfect summer read full of magical realism, and food. I really enjoyed the family dynamics, and small town feel of the neighborhood and woods. And the FOOD! Oh my word, I was constantly trying to find something to satisfy the sweet tooth brought on by reading about all the delicious treats Mimi created. If you are familiar with the Shakespeare play, you will quickly pick out the characters and story resemblance, but it has been a while since I last read any plays so it took me a bit but I thoroughly enjoyed those elements. It also has great messages behind the story about friendships and families and our individual talents and strengths. Definitely an enjoyable summer story, now I am off to try my hand at a few of the recipes included in the book!
My Rating: Magical realism isn't normally my thing but in this story it definitely worked and was very enjoyable to read. I highly recommend this one if you are at all a foodie like me! I give it a rating of Four Paws!
No comments:
Post a Comment