Their mother works long hours as an employee at a neighborhood bakery, and the boys are largely unsupervised. It’s so different from his old home, and he can’t understand what the Martians - cleverly drawn by Lai as, yes, Martians - are saying. But when his father suddenly dies, Jingwen, his annoying little brother, Yanghao, and their mother have to make the move without Dad.Īs far as Jingwen is concerned, Australia might as well be Mars. The new menu will be his father’s attempt to bridge the anticipated cultural divide and conquer the hearts and tastes of their new compatriots. It will be called the Pie in the Sky bakery and will feature flashy offerings like Nutella cream cake and rainbow cake. In his old country, Jingwen’s family owns a bakery featuring local treats like sesame balls and “steamed prosperity cupcakes.” In anticipation of emigrating to Australia, Jingwen’s father creates a new menu for the bakery he dreams of opening. Lai also did the excellent artwork - this is a highly illustrated (though not graphic) novel. Jingwen is the protagonist of PIE IN THE SKY (Holt, 384 pp., $21.99 ages 8 to 11), Remy Lai’s heartfelt, funny and, of course, sweet debut middle-grade novel. And Jingwen believes that if he bakes enough, cake will become a connection to his late father. Cake is his voice when the language barrier silences him in his new home. For many of us, it’s just a dessert, but for 11-year-old Jingwen, cake is a connection to the culture he left behind in his old country.
0 Comments
|