The Doughnut Fix (Doughnut Fix #1)

Gr 3-6—For basketball-playing, cake-baking Tristan, the fact that his parents have bought a new house is an unmitigated disaster. The house is in rural Petersville, NY, and that means Tristan has to move from his apartment in New York City, where he knows the local deli menu by heart, to a town so small that it has no restaurants. To Tristan, who has baked almost all the recipes in White House pastry chef Roland Mesnier's cookbook, this seems unthinkable. Just as the boy is about to give up all hope in Petersville, he learns that the grumpy general store owner has a secret recipe for chocolate cream doughnuts which apparently are "life-changing." With the help of a new friend Josh, the town librarian's son, Tristan goes on an epic quest to find out the secret recipe and bring the famed doughnuts back to the sleepy town. As he navigates his way through negotiating prices with vendors and farmers, keeping the pastry gun out of his four-year-old sister's hands, and trying to cheer up his older sister, Tristan finds that setting up a doughnut stand is harder than it looks. Budding entrepreneurs who enjoyed Jacqueline Davies's "Lemonade War" series will enjoy this tale about a kid chef starting a business. Tristan is a refreshing protagonist who is comfortable in his own skin amidst his varied interests of basketball, cooking, and being a sympathetic, if occasionally frustrated, brother. His family members—a quirky, relentlessly optimistic father; restauranteur/caterer mother; a grumpy but brilliant older sister; and an effervescent handful of a younger sister—all help to create a warm and delicious start to a new series. VERDICT Tightly written and accessible. Hand to budding entrepreneurs and chefs; this is will be a nice entree in their menu of reading choices.—Evelyn Khoo Schwartz, Holton Arms School, Bethesda, MD