Scan barcode
hidingzeus's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent. Deals with grief, immigration, learning a new language when everything is new and foreign to you. Also! Cakes!
thekjohnson's review
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 against another edition
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
kiperoo's review against another edition
5.0
AAAAAHHHHHHH I loved this book so much! First off, I absolutely love the way she represented how being completely lost in a foreign language and culture feels. YES YES YES. Kids who are going through this will really understand. And those boys--what rule-breakers! But I love that part of the rule-breaking involved making an elaborate list OF THEIR OWN RULES zomgggggg. So true to life. Finally, the deeper journey and character development was just astounding. Not to mention all the baking! An A+ read.
literatehedgehog's review against another edition
3.0
A solid middle grade prose & picture blend that tenderly addresses family loss and language learning after immigration. The art is perfectly balanced and functional within the text, just like a picture book, or for English immersion learning. It could have been shorter, parts in the middle with all the repetitious cake baking dragged for me, but overall a good read.
julessssss's review against another edition
5.0
cute, funny, consuming - and it made me cry
would recommend
would recommend
willowwanne's review
1.0
I had to read this for my children’s literature class and… let’s just say I am not impressed. Aside from the humor that I could have easily overlooked as just being not-for-my-age-range, the mother in this book was awful. She moved her children to a new country where they didn’t speak a word of the language and didn’t pay enough attention to realize that they were struggling. Also, in what world would it have taken the teachers so long to take action about the fact that their student couldn’t understand them at all?? I did not like any of the characters and the storyline was boring at best. It was a pain to finish.
mat_tobin's review
5.0
A fusion text of prose and graphic novel format, Pie in the Sky is an immigration story done with the same smarts as [b:Front Desk|36127488|Front Desk|Kelly Yang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507986199l/36127488._SX50_.jpg|51903030] yet with a subtle, wise dose of Patti Kim’s [b:Here I Am|17658592|Here I Am|Patti Kim|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1379198697l/17658592._SX50_.jpg|24646750] dipped into the mix. Jingwen is eleven years old when he is brought, unwillingly to Australia by his mother and accompanied by his younger brother, Yanghao. Although he struggles greatly with the English language, there are deeper concerns that stop him from acclimatising to his new home.
Before emigrating, Jingwen’s father – a baker himself who loved to make cakes with his son – passed away and now Jingwen is caught between the internal and external separation from both his immediate family in this new country and the concept of home. Jingwen struggles to acclimatise to this new culture and language but why he finds it harder than his little brother is what makes the reading so good.
Considering that this is Lai’s first novel for KS2 children, this is a highly accomplished piece. What struck me a few chapters in is how well she handles Jingwen's first person, unreliable narrative. Because of his poor English, we are also made to feel like aliens, denied any understanding of what the English speaking characters are saying. We are led to trust his thoughts and judgements and often to our and his detriment. Lai then presents us with a protagonist who can be mean, thoughtless and unfair to both his family and those who are trying to be his friends as he struggles to come to terms with his own insecurities .
I found Pie in the Sky to be an excellent read and would love to know how much Lai herself called upon her own experiences when emigrating from Singapore. Personally, I found the narrative pace to be just right and that partnership between graphic novel and prose was perfectly pitched.
Before emigrating, Jingwen’s father – a baker himself who loved to make cakes with his son – passed away and now Jingwen is caught between the internal and external separation from both his immediate family in this new country and the concept of home. Jingwen struggles to acclimatise to this new culture and language but why he finds it harder than his little brother is what makes the reading so good.
Considering that this is Lai’s first novel for KS2 children, this is a highly accomplished piece. What struck me a few chapters in is how well she handles Jingwen's first person, unreliable narrative. Because of his poor English, we are also made to feel like aliens, denied any understanding of what the English speaking characters are saying. We are led to trust his thoughts and judgements and often to our and his detriment. Lai then presents us with a protagonist who can be mean, thoughtless and unfair to both his family and those who are trying to be his friends as he struggles to come to terms with his own insecurities .
I found Pie in the Sky to be an excellent read and would love to know how much Lai herself called upon her own experiences when emigrating from Singapore. Personally, I found the narrative pace to be just right and that partnership between graphic novel and prose was perfectly pitched.
chardeemacdennis's review
4.0
Don't read this book while hungry. It seems as though the stack of books I checked out to read over quarantine had a common theme: the main character loves to bake. This book did include one recipe at the back of the book, but I would have loved to have several of the Pie in the Sky recipes included. You better believe that the first recipe I looked up was triple cookie layer cake. YUM.
Now that I mentioned the delicious part of the book, the rest of the book is also excellent. Jingwen's family plans to move to Australia and open up a bakery called, Pie in the Sky. To Jingwen's dismay, his family still moves to Australia even after the death of his father. Jingwen feels like an alien in a country where he doesn't speak the language. He's held back a grade because his English is considered too poor for his correct grade. Jingwen isn't happy that both his mom and brother seem happy in Australia and that their English is steadily improving. When Jingwen's younger brother asks for cake for dinner one night, Jingwen relents and decides he'll make him cake. In fact, they'll make each of the cakes that should have been on the Pie in the Sky menu. Unbeknowst to Jingwen, baking cakes from Australian cookbooks will help him learn English. There is just one problem with this plan. Jingwen's mother works 3rd shift and has made the boys promise not to touch the oven when she's gone. Is this the type of lie that doesn't hurt someone? Or should Jingwen listen to her?
I really enjoyed this book. The story between brothers and how they can both learn something from each other, the story of feeling lost in another country, elements of fitting in at school, and baked goods. This book has it all.
Now that I mentioned the delicious part of the book, the rest of the book is also excellent. Jingwen's family plans to move to Australia and open up a bakery called, Pie in the Sky. To Jingwen's dismay, his family still moves to Australia even after the death of his father. Jingwen feels like an alien in a country where he doesn't speak the language. He's held back a grade because his English is considered too poor for his correct grade. Jingwen isn't happy that both his mom and brother seem happy in Australia and that their English is steadily improving. When Jingwen's younger brother asks for cake for dinner one night, Jingwen relents and decides he'll make him cake. In fact, they'll make each of the cakes that should have been on the Pie in the Sky menu. Unbeknowst to Jingwen, baking cakes from Australian cookbooks will help him learn English. There is just one problem with this plan. Jingwen's mother works 3rd shift and has made the boys promise not to touch the oven when she's gone. Is this the type of lie that doesn't hurt someone? Or should Jingwen listen to her?
I really enjoyed this book. The story between brothers and how they can both learn something from each other, the story of feeling lost in another country, elements of fitting in at school, and baked goods. This book has it all.
jkenna90'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.