Stir It Up - Ramin Ganeshram

Stir It Up by Ramin Ganeshram
Anjali loves cooking and works in her families Trinidadian restaurant. Anjali cooks with her grandmother. On Saturday the two attend a cooking class run by chef Nyla. Anjali loves the classes where she's able to learn about different cuisines. Anjali dreams of being a Food Network star. Her parents think cooking is simply a hobby.

Chef Nyla tells Anjali about a new Food Network contest, Super Chef Kids. Anjali enters without telling anyone. Only when Anjali is chosen as a finalist does she tell her family about the contest. Her parents are excited until they discover that the competition will conflict with a H.S entrance exam. Anjali defies her parents, continuing on with the contest. When the truth is discovered her parents are disappointed and angry. Though they soon support their daughter, who has a very good chance at being the first Super Chef Kid.

The author is a trained chef and food writer, it shows in her main character. Anjali does an excellent job in talking about and describing food. It's easy to see Anjali passion and love of cooking. Away from food the story doesn't feel as natural. I do like Anjali's relationship with her grandmother and best friend Linc. Out of all the secondary characters those two are the best develop. Though overall there wasn't much depths in the characters.

The story was okay, the food shines throughout. This would be a good suggestion for anyone who enjoys being in the kitchen. The best thing about Stir It Up are the recipes. The book is worth buying for the 14 recipes alone. Ganeshram gives step by step instructions on how to cook each one. Everything sounded delicious. Two of my favorite, the coconut dark chocolate chip cookies and the shrimp burger pitas.

But if looking for more then great recipes I'd highly recommend A La Carte by Tanita Davis. My review

An excerpt of Stir It Up

The Detention Club - David Yoo

The Detention Club by David Yoo
Peter and his best friend Drew were popular in elementary school. A day into middle school, the two realize they are no longer cool. Peter and Drew don't know how their status changed over the summer. Peter comes up with several plans to make them popular again.

All the schemes fail, until Peter figures out detention is the key to popularity. Soon Peter and Drew's friendship is strained by starting middle school and losing their cool status. Peter's older sistery Sunny gets perfect grades and wins everything. So Peter has the added pressure of trying to keep up with his teachers expectations.

I wasn't a big Peter fan but his voice was believable. I thought the author did a good job with Peter and Drew's friendship. They had a great back n forth, it was easy to imagine that they've been friends for years.

This was an enjoyable read with some funny moments. A few of Peter's interactions with his parents had me laughing out loud. This is Yoo's third novel and middle grade debut. It's a solid debut, it's not always easy to make that transition from a YA voice. Yoo does a good job, Peter and Drew feel very much like the middle school freshman they are suppose to be. Their fear of middle school and not fitting in play out well.

An excerpt via HarperCollins.

The Midnight Gate - Helen Stringer

The Midnight Gate by Helen Stringer
This was one sequel I was really looking forward to reading. I loved the first book, Spellbinder. Set two months later, Belladonna and Steve have gone back to their normal routines. Belladonna is still the quiet girl with no friends and Steve continues not to pay attention in class.

Belladonna lives with her ghost parents. On paper she resides with her grandmother. It works well until some informs the authorities Belladonna is living alone and her grandmother goes missing.

After a field trip to a Fenchurch Abbey, Belladonna and Steve realize their talents are needed again. Belladonna caretakers, The Proctors seem nice but Belladonna soon wonders how much she can trust them. Forcing Belladonna to keep the mission a secret.

It's nice to watch Belladonna and Steve grow into their roles. Belladonna is the spellbinder and Steve her protector.The elements I enjoyed in the first book are present again. Belladonna, Steve and the ghost Elsie still have good chemistry, making for some great dialogue.

This is a wonderful sequel and best enjoyed in order. So I highly recommend reading Spellbinder first.

Read chapter one via feiwel and friends

As an added bouns chapter one of Spellbinder. I loved the hardcover edition. The new paperback edition is nice as well, and I think it will attract a larger audience.

Ghetto Cowboy - G. Neri, Jesse Joshua Watson

Ghetto Cowboy by G. Neri illus. by Jesse Joshua Watson
12 yr old Cole lives with is mother in Detroit. When Cole's mom finds out he's been ditching school for weeks, she's had enough. She drives the two of them straight to Philly, and leaves Cole with a father he's never meant.

Cole's father Harper runs a stable in the city. Cole doesn't know what to think of his father or the horses. He's quickly put to work and learns a few things from the Black cowboys he never knew existed. The stable has a long history with the community. Between those blocks there's no gang violence. Now the city is demanding the land back. After learning from his father and the other men, Cole steps up to help out the Cowboy Way.
Cole's voice was very strong. He took hold of the story from the very beginning. And he has one of the best lines of the year.

"I look in the closet and see he pulled some stuff out of it and put a blanket on the floor. Uh no, I ain't no Harry Potter. And I ain't living in no closet."

One of the things I love about Neri, he knows how to tell a good story. Ghetto Cowboy moves at a great pace and everything fits together very well. I loved Watson's illustrations, they added a nice dimension to the story.

Listen to a sample of the audio book via Candlewick press

Vanished by Sheela Chari

Vanished by Sheela Chari
Neela brings her instrument, a veena to her sixth grade class for the around the world unit. On the way home there's a very bad rainstorm. Neela is offered shelter from the rain by an old man in a church. She's very uneasy about not being able to take her valuable veena straight home. Also the old man is a little strange. The two have an odd conversation in the kitchen. When Neela goes to leave her veena is missing and the man has disappeared.

The veena is very special and rare it was a gift from Neela's grandmother in India. Neela is determined to find her instrument even after her parents tell her to stop.

I enjoyed Vanished a lot and loved Neela's voice. It was also nice to see Neela's parents and younger brother, Seri were a part in the story.

"Like strep throat or the chicken pox, or the Great Plague which Neela read about in social studies, bad luck was one of those things are one of those things are mother tried at great length to avoid. She was training to be a pharmacist, and it was her belief that all human experience was the result of chemistry and luck, good and bad. But mostly bad. Neela's father would always exclaim that's so unscientific. But there was no changing her mother's opinion. Bad luck was an impenetrable force working against them all. Worst of all it was contagious."

Since the suspect list is small, I liked that the other doesn't throw in too many red herrings. The mystery lies more in the how and why the veena was stolen. The story moves along at a great clip. There's a nice hint of creepy and unexplained darkness. The age old curse on the missing veena adds to this feeling. Neela slowly connects the clues and everything comes together in India.

Neela reminded me of Glida Joyce. Both characters have a certain similar quailty that I love. Vanished was a well layered story that was simply a lot of fun. An excellent debut and one of my favorites of the year. I hope this is the first of many books starring Neela Krishnan.