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ghutter05's review
3.0
Liked it, but I'm afraid I didn't find it tugging at my heartstrings as much as I expected it to.
jkenna1990's review
5.0
This book is about two Chinese brothers that move to Australian with their mother and the consequences of that move. When they first get there Jingwen feels like an alien. He can't speak the language (or understand it) and is forced to watch out for his kid brother a lot of the time. To pass the time while they are at home they break one of their mother's rules - no using the oven when she is not at home - to bake cakes. They have to hide the cakes from their mom in creative ways to hide the fact that they are breaking her rules.
This is a fantastic middle grade book that I think would be a great read along between parents and thir children. It has a lot of good lessons in it and also talks about how children can feel isolated after a big move. I loved the graphic novel type illustrations that accompanied the story as well. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.
This is a fantastic middle grade book that I think would be a great read along between parents and thir children. It has a lot of good lessons in it and also talks about how children can feel isolated after a big move. I loved the graphic novel type illustrations that accompanied the story as well. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.
angiedkelly's review
5.0
While on the onset this book seems light and cute about two brothers who set out to make cakes while their mom is at work, it is actually much more than that. It deals with grief, sudden loss of a parent, feeling of guilt, starting over and overcoming a huge language barrier. There is a lot to unpack in this book and lots to treasure as well. Highly recommend to middle grade readers as well as adults. Especially recommend for adults that have English learners in their lives/classrooms.
saidtheraina's review
5.0
When I was a kid, growing up in the northwest corner of amerika, Australia seemed like the most exciting, alluring place in the world to visit. Was that true for you? Or was it just me?
Pie in the Sky is about Jingwen, a kid who moves to Australia. He moves there with his brother and his mom, but this book is completely in his head & from his perspective. As such, the author includes illustrations intermittently within the text (Diary of a Wimpy Kid style), which are sometimes apparently realistic, and other times very much the product of Jingwen's feelings and daydreams and thoughts about the world surrounding him.
Using the mechanism of illustrations, Lai vividly introduces Jingwen's idea that he's moved to a land of aliens. He struggles with the culture, social interactions, and most of all, the language.
Being in such a foreign environment forces Jingwen to spend a lot of time with his brother, which is also a source of frustration. Their mother is working nights, so Jingwen is left alone with Yanghao a lot.
Jingwen's father's plan had been to set up a cake shop in Australia. They'd had a cake shop where they'd moved from (where exactly that was is never specified explicitly). So now, Jingwen and his brother start making cakes at night.
There is a LOT going on in this book. Immigration, baking, learning a second language, grief, sibling relationships, outsiders & insiders, cultural norms....
But the book has an overall, rather surprising, sense of lightness to it. A lot of that can be chalked up to the expressive, cartoony illustrations. And the characters really grab you, as well.
It was a joy to read, and I'm pushing for it to be included on our school district's Battle of the Books list for 2020-2021 (one extra-curricular that can Totally still happen, even if we're all still doing virtual learning!). Giving it five for the unique combination of elements - I've never read anything quite like this before.
Pie in the Sky is about Jingwen, a kid who moves to Australia. He moves there with his brother and his mom, but this book is completely in his head & from his perspective. As such, the author includes illustrations intermittently within the text (Diary of a Wimpy Kid style), which are sometimes apparently realistic, and other times very much the product of Jingwen's feelings and daydreams and thoughts about the world surrounding him.
Using the mechanism of illustrations, Lai vividly introduces Jingwen's idea that he's moved to a land of aliens. He struggles with the culture, social interactions, and most of all, the language.
Being in such a foreign environment forces Jingwen to spend a lot of time with his brother, which is also a source of frustration. Their mother is working nights, so Jingwen is left alone with Yanghao a lot.
Jingwen's father's plan had been to set up a cake shop in Australia. They'd had a cake shop where they'd moved from (where exactly that was is never specified explicitly). So now, Jingwen and his brother start making cakes at night.
There is a LOT going on in this book. Immigration, baking, learning a second language, grief, sibling relationships, outsiders & insiders, cultural norms....
But the book has an overall, rather surprising, sense of lightness to it. A lot of that can be chalked up to the expressive, cartoony illustrations. And the characters really grab you, as well.
It was a joy to read, and I'm pushing for it to be included on our school district's Battle of the Books list for 2020-2021 (one extra-curricular that can Totally still happen, even if we're all still doing virtual learning!). Giving it five for the unique combination of elements - I've never read anything quite like this before.
dswhite's review
4.0
Nice story of an eleven year old boy who moves to Australia with his mom and brother. He father died the year before. I laughed and cried reading this book.
lololauren23's review
4.0
What a beautiful story of immigration, family, growing up, and finding oneself in the midst of it all.
rachtat's review
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
hidingzeus's review
4.0
Excellent. Deals with grief, immigration, learning a new language when everything is new and foreign to you. Also! Cakes!
thekjohnson's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book was so fun to read I would 100% read this this again you can see the character development and it is so nice to see the change from beginning to end. It was a emotional roller coaster for sure. it was sad it was happy just a lot of different emotions and feelings which I love.
mindfullibrarian's review
5.0
What a unique and special story ❤️ Having this story be from the perspective of a 11 yo who moves to Australia (from an unnamed country) and doesn’t know any English makes it such an important one for all kids and teachers to read. I’ll be buying this for my school library and will be booktalking it heavily! The partial graphic format will make it one I can push to my DOAWK lovers to hopefully get them to branch out a bit. Grades 3-6