Vastly entertaining novel about Elaine, a shy reticent teenager whose greatest passion is cooking and following in the footsteps of her culinary idol, Julia Child. (Elaine's walls are plastered with pictures of Julia rather than teenybop boy bands.) It takes wacky new friend Lucida Sans and Elaine's delightfully chaotic family of brothers to help Elaine find the courage to make her culinary dreams come true at a national competition. The descriptions of recipes and Elaine's cooking techniques add special--well, FLAVOR--to this story. ( )

Charming YA novel about a teen whose life ambition is to cook, and who has been secretly writing letters to her idol, Julia Child since she was 6 years old. But she’s never gotten an answer. That’s to be expected, since Elaine Hamilton is far too shy to actually mail the letters. Her mother, an elected official, is horrified at the thought her daughter would aspire to “domesticity” vs a profession. But Elaine follows her dream. At age six Elaine begins to rise early to prepare breakfast and pack lunches for herself and her younger siblings. By the time she’s in third grade she is preparing dinner from Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Now she is an awkward high school student with no friends, and a tendency to use extremely formal language when she feels stressed. But at a community fair she comes across a girl who is completely opposite – Isadora Fischburger (now known as Lucida Sans) is convinced she will be known for her talent (if she can just find which talent). She’s exuberant and fearless, a real individualist. Their friendship will temper each of their personalities.

I enjoyed this gentle coming-of-age story. I did think the adults, in particular Elaine’s mother, were not really sufficiently fleshed out. The relationships between the teens and adults, as a result, didn’t ring true, and the conclusion was just a little too neatly tied up in a ribbon. Still, it’s nice to read a YA book that does not rely on witches, werewolves, ghosts, goblins, etc. ( )

I like to cook and I adore Julia Childs but...
This book is going to have a very limited appeal.
Loved the cooking sequences but not much else. ( )

huh, this was a weird little book. Not sure it was totally successful; a little too wacky on the one hand, and a little too stilted on the other.

Oddly, it was the second YA book I read in a row that dealt with girls who have extremely feminist mothers and how they have to rebel against the mothers' narrow views of appropriate roles for women.
I kind of get where they're coming from, but I feel like feminists get enough of a bad rap. ( )

This was one of the quirkiest little books I'd read in awhile. Since I genuinely love to read "foodie lit," I'd wanted to read this one for quite some time. The references to sauces, pastries, and meat preparations were glorious, and made me a bit jealous that such a young girl could master them! Elaine was truly an introvert. Her likes and dislikes so different from other teenagers, that it was hard to even say she was a teen. Her best friend in the story, also a big eccentric, really brought Elaine to a place where she could actually see her dreams of attending culinary school in France.

There is this interesting blend of foodie knowledge and YA angst that makes this novel especially interesting. It has the feel of other young adult novels that deal with really quirky teenagers, with their masked and bottled insecurities and their hopes all kept under wraps. I really liked Elaine though, and wanted her to find herself and showcase her amazing talents! It was truly a fun read that was completely out of the ordinary from anything I'd read before. You do get a sense for how it might end, but the story itself feels strangely new. I really enjoyed the book, and although thought the characters were real oddballs, I enjoyed watching them take their insecurities and oddities and showing their value to society. Just a great little book that is out of the norm! ( )