Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai

"Somehow, the sweetness of the cakes takes away the bitter sadness. Somehow, sometime during the cake making, some of the seashells in my pockets disappeared."

I am going to begin with a rating for this book. I rarely rate books but for me this is absolutely a five star experience!

One of the things I really miss about working in my former school library is putting books, I have loved reading, into the hands of students. Pie in the Sky is a book I would love to share, book talk, and loan to so many readers. This looks like a long book (379 pages) but the combination of graphic novel, generous print size and a plot that just races along mean this is a perfect book for all Middle Grade readers. Here is a funny, emotional and honest book and yes it contains cakes! This is a new book due for publication on 1st June, 2019.

Here is the blurb from my Advanced Reader Copy:

"When Jingwen moves to Australia, he feel like he's landed on Mars. Making friends is impossible, since he doesn't speak English and he stuck looking after his little brother Yanghao. But Jingwen knows how to make everything better. If he can just bake all of the cakes on the menu of the bakery his father had planned to open - and complete the dream he didn't have time to finish - then everything will be okay. Sure, he'll have to break his mother's most important rule, keep his little brother from spilling his secret and brush up on his kitchen skills, but some things are worth the risk."

Jingwen has the family cook book. He sets himself the task of making twelve cakes. They all sound so delicious but because this is a huge secret, their mother must never find out, the boys not only make a cake every night but they have to eat the whole thing too.

Chocolate Raspberry Torte
Neapolitan Mousse Cake
Blueberry Cheesecake
Apple Mille-feuille
Nutella Cream Cake
Rainbow Cake (recipe in the back of the book)

Image source: http://www.raspberricupcakes.com/2013/09/rainbow-cake-with-jelly-beans.html

Of course this is not just about making cakes. Jingwen has huge obstacles to overcome living in a new land, learning English (he describes this with such poignancy), trying to make sense of the comments by other kids in his class and most of all finding a way to cope with the grief of losing his father and the guilt he feels about one pivotal incident in the days before his father died.  Jingwen also has to cope with his little brother. Yanghao drives Jingwen crazy, but he is also a vital accomplice in his cake baking venture.

My copy of Pie in the Sky (huge thanks to Beachside Bookshop) came with a letter from Remy. Like Jingwen, Remy migrated from Indonesia to Singapore where she started to learn English. She loved The Little Price just like Yahghao. She has four annoying siblings and most significantly "I wrote Pie in the Sky for someone who has lost a loved one and regrets have loved imperfectly."

Remy pays tribute to reading as the way that helped her learn English and she is thankful for librarians and teacher-librarians who were always happy to recommend new books.

Here are some quotes that made me laugh out loud:

"So on our prehistoric computer, I Googled. This research took a long time since the old machines was so slow that the blue spinning wheel on the screen is really there to hypnotize you into forgetting you are waiting, and then you turn into a fossil."

"Before anything else I check the toilet bowl for snakes, just like my friend Xirong back at my old school told me to. He once saw a story on the news about a man who sat down without looking and paid a painful price. .. whenever I go to the bathroom, I always think of my friend."

"Snail mail is annoyingly s l o w - there's that word again. Handwritten letters should be illegal unless you're six or younger and writing to fairies or Santa Claus, or unless you're over sixty."

Here is something to celebrate - Pie in the Sky has received a Kirkus Star review.

Like salted caramel, a perfect balance of flavors, 

this deftly drawn story is a heartfelt treat. Kirkus Star

Here is the review by Elizabeth Bird in the School Library Journal
Consider this the easiest book to booktalk in the world. You play up the cakes, show the kids the cartoons, and voila! They’re instantly reading a story about the complications that come with family love and communication, letting go, not just of the people we love, but the guilt we’ve tied to their memories, and how much bravery it takes to admit when we’re wrong. That’s a whole lot of serious stuff for such a blithely funny work of fiction. SLJ

You can see some art from this book on Mr Schu's web site Watch Connect Read.

Book talk for Pie in the Sky.