Tag Archives: Caroline Stellings

Review: The Great Cookie War by Caroline Stellings

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The Great Cookie War by Caroline Stellings

The Great Cookie War
Caroline Stellings
Second Story Press
Published April 13, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Great Cookie War

Life in her traditional Mennonite community is peaceful if a little dull for twelve-year-old Beth, who dreams of being an artist. One day excitement shows up in the form of a determined lawyer from New York who insists she needs a family cookie recipe to win a million-dollar lawsuit.

Beth’s parents are bemused, but her grandmother is determined that the recipe will not leave her kitchen. As Beth tries to balance her love for her family and faith with the promise of adventure in New York, she learns that she is stronger than she believes.

My Review

So, two things I loved about this that didn’t get enough attention in the cover copy:

  1. It’s based on or inspired by (I’m not quite sure where the line is there) real events! There really was a lawsuit about cookies where one company had a patent for a cookie recipe which produced cookies that were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. When another company made and sold cookies with a similar claim, they were sued. The Mennonites were involved because a woman had written a cookbook with Mennonite recipes called FOOD THAT REALLY SCHMECKS. The lawyer representing the company that had been sued wanted to see the family recipe for rigglevake cookies, a type of spiral cookie made with two types of dough: one that came out crispy and one that came out soft.
  2. Beth is the real star of the show. The whole cookie conundrum places her in a position where she’s watching two strong-willed women facing off, each pushing hard for what they want. That experience encourages her to speak up for herself and pursue the art classes she dreams of. Then, she faces a choice: guaranteed opportunity to go to art school if only she’ll swipe the recipe book from her family without their permission.

It’s probably obvious from all that, but I enjoyed reading this book. It’s got peppy, fun characters and a great setting as well as some really cool scenes exploring and celebrating Mennonite life. I think readers who enjoyed PIE by Sarah Weeks will absolutely need to read this one.

Content Notes for The Great Cookie War

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Beth and her family are Mennonites.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Beth and her family are Mennonites.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of THE GREAT COOKIE WAR in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Freedom’s Just Another Word by Caroline Stellings

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

Freedom’s Just Another Word
Caroline Stellings
Second Story Press
Available September 6, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Summary (from Goodreads)

The year Louisiana – Easy for short – meets Janis Joplin is the year everything changes. Easy is a car mechanic in her dad’s shop, but she can sing the blues like someone twice her age. So when she hears that Janis Joplin is passing through her small town of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Easy is there with her heart – and her voice – in hand. It’s 1970 and Janis Joplin is an electrifying blues-rock singer at the height of her fame – and of her addictions. Yet she recognizes Easy’s talent and asks her to meet her in Texas to sing. So Easy begins an unusual journey that will change everything.

Review

One of my favorite things about Caroline Stellings is her ability to tell a story with huge emotional layering. At its surface, this is a really simple tale about a girl who has a dream and takes a road trip. The backdrop of America in 1970 gives the story some added intensity. I loved that Janis Joplin makes an appearance, and even more that Easy talks so much about Billie Holiday and Bessie Green as influences of her music.

The power punches come in the characters. I don’t want to give anything away, but there were several moments where things unfolded in this perfect way. Like when you make complex origami and on the last step, pull the piece into its final shape, so that suddenly it transforms from being a bunch of sequential folds to a crane or dragon or something so much more than paper. That’s how it felt reading Freedom’s Just Another Word. Like being part of a transformation.

I loved that meeting Janis didn’t suddenly propel Easy to fame. It was a significant moment on her journey, and she learned a lot about herself and others through her encounter. But she had so much more to learn and to give. She just also had to find the courage to take those steps.

At any rate, I wholeheartedly recommend this book. (Check content to make sure it’s okay for your readers as there is some language.) If you enjoy fiction about music or musicians, definitely get yourself a copy of Freedom’s Just Another Word. I loved it.

Cultural Elements
Easy was raised by African American parents. Her mother is white and her father is black. Where she lives in Saskatoon there aren’t very many black people. She experiences some prejudice as a child. When she drives through Texas, she’s threatened and thrown out of a restaurant because of her race. There’s some discussion about places it’s unsafe for her to go, especially at night. Some places won’t let her in, others treat her coldly.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Easy wonders how her mom forgave her father for having an affair with a white woman.

Spiritual Content
Easy meets two nuns and helps them buy a car. One is judgmental and cynical. The other is kind and welcoming to Easy. Later she meets a Reverend Mother who shows a great deal of compassion for the people around her, which moves Easy.

Violent Content
A man threatens Easy’s life if she doesn’t leave his restaurant.

Drug Content
Easy meets Janis Joplin and her gang. They clean out a liquor store, many of them already drunk. Janis wants Southern Comfort, and Easy finds it for her. She reflects on Janis’s hard living way of life with some sadness. Later she meets another heroin addict. When Easy sees Janis again, she talks to her about him. Janis seems sad about the man’s predicament, but expresses no desire to change her habits. Not long afterward she’s found dead of a heroin overdose.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Spotlight on Freedom’s Just Another Word by Caroline Stellings

Blogger's Favorites, Historical, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , ,

Freedom’s Just Another Word
by Caroline Stellings
Second Story Press
Available September 1, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About Freedom’s Just Another Word

The year Louisiana – Easy for short – meets Janis Joplin is the year everything changes. Easy is a car mechanic in her dad’s shop, but she can sing the blues like someone twice her age. So when she hears that Janis Joplin is passing through her small town of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Easy is there with her heart – and her voice – in hand. It’s 1970 and Janis Joplin is an electrifying blues-rock singer at the height of her fame – and of her addictions. Yet she recognizes Easy’s talent and asks her to meet her in Texas to sing. So Easy begins an unusual journey that will change everything.

About Caroline Stellings

Caroline Stellings is an award-winning author and illustrator of numerous books for children and young adults. She has been given many honours for her work, including nominations for both the Geoffrey Bilson Award and the Hackmatack Children’s Choice Book Award, and she has won both the ForeWord Book of the Year and the Hamilton Literary Award. Her picture book Gypsy’s Fortune (Peanut Butter Press) was chosen as a Best Bet by the Ontario Library Association. Caroline has a Masters degree from McMaster University. She lives in Waterdown, Ontario.

Why I Can’t Wait to Read Freedom’s Just Another Word

I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Caroline Stellings, but The Manager is the book that really made me fall in love with her writing. I loved the spunk and heart in that story. It was all the things I wanted the movie Million Dollar Baby to be. Read my review here.

I love music in literature, so as soon as I saw the name Janis Joplin, I was pretty sure I needed to read this book. I loved Scar Boys by Len Vlahos and I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Stephanie Kuenhert.

If you’re a reviewer or have a NetGalley account, you can request Freedom’s Just Another Word for review from Second Story Press. The book will be available for purchase on September 1, 2016.

Let me know if you request the book or think you want to read it! I’d love to know how you like it.

Review: The Manager by Caroline Stellings

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

The Manager
Caroline Stellings
Cape Breton University Press
Published October 1, 2013

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Convinced an experimental surgery will solve her problems, Tina drags her sister on a wild journey from Nova Scotia to Boston. Along the way, Tina finds a gem of a boxer and convinces him to let her operate as his manager. Though skeptical at first, Jesse Mankiller begins to respect Tina’s unorthodox style. Together they hope to prove they have what it takes to win the big fight.

Like its protagonist, Tina MacKenzie, this is definitely one of those books that you might overlook at first. But while the cover won’t reach out and grab you, the story certainly will. Whip-quick narrative and dynamic characters make this novel a one-sitting read and one of the best I’ve read this year. It’s not often that an author assembles the perfect mixture of heroism and flaw in her characters, but Stellings really does it this time. It’s absolutely fabulous. Sports fans will love the journey of an unknown fighter going for a major title and readers looking for a heartwarming tale will fall in love with Tina’s sharp mouth and soft heart. It’s a beautiful story.

Profanity and Crude Language Content
Mild profanity, moderate frequency.

Sexual Content
References to sexual behavior, but no details. Brief nudity.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
Descriptions of boxing matches. Limited details about injuries, etc. A character is threatened at gunpoint by mafia thugs.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Update – 1/15/15
The Manager by Caroline Stellings has just been honored with the 2015 Hamilton Literary Award for fiction. The novel is also a finalist for the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction at the 2014 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Awards.

 

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Review: The Scratch on the Ming Vase by Caroline Stellings

Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Middle Grade 8-12, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, , , ,

The Scratch on the Ming Vase
Caroline Stellings
Second Story Press
Published September 15, 2012

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Fourteen year-old Nicki Haddon arrives in Canada, ready to begin her training at the Fire Dragon Academy. But when she reports to the academy to meet kung fu master David Kahana, Nicki finds him lying in a pool of blood. He is only able to slur out a few words and begs Nicki to find a priceless vase and return it to its owner.

The search for the Chinese vase causes Nicki to question her past. She wrestles with the absence of her wealthy adopted parents as they manage their hotel chain, and her origin as an abandoned baby from a Chinese orphanage. Are her real parents still out there? Do they think of her at all?

Bravely facing danger and following sharp instincts, Nicki pursues Kahana’s attacker and the Ming vase. She gives her Chinese name so that her adopted name is not recognized. She lies in order to get a job and gain access to restricted files. She doesn’t appear to have any qualms about these actions. Along the way, she receives help from the butler, another Chinese family and the generous owners of a small deli. Together, they plan to find the vase and return it to its owner, as Master Kahana has asked.

I liked Nicki’s spunk and her independence. The characters kept my interest and proved memorable. This is a nice series for middle grade readers with a short attention span for reading, as it moves quickly and, at 164 pages, isn’t a long book.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
Nicki is the first to find her teacher after he has been stabbed. In several altercations, Nicki uses martial arts to disable her attackers. She handles a gun that a kidnapper produces, but does not fire. No gory details are given.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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