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A review by lauriehnatiuk
Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai
5.0
This book is going to be gobbled up for a variety of reasons; the window and mirror aspect of moving to a new country and the language barriers, the graphics accompanying the text adding humour and reinforcing the difficulties of being new and the connections readers will be able to make with being new at school, the sibling relationship and tackling the tough topic of grief.
Eleven year old Jingwen, his little brother Yanghao and his mother have moved to Australia. The family dream was to move and open a bakery called Pie in the Sky but now the plans have changed as Jingwen’s dad suddenly passed away before they moved. Jingwen is all out of sorts and feels like he has landed on Mars. He is having difficulty adjusting to school, making friends and learning English. His mother works an evening night shift at a bakery and Jingwen is responsible for his younger brother during that time. Feeling lost and frustrated Jingwen feels that if he can reproduce the cakes that he and his father made back home - things will be better for him. The catch is his mother has said not to use the oven and stove. Believing he must make the cakes on their Pie in the Sky menu - Jingwen and his brother make the cakes in the evening which produces some interesting results. Will Jingwen succeed in baking all the cakes making things right in his world?
I love how @remaylai has used humour to deal with an all too familiar situation with many newcomers to our country. I also applaud her for allowing the family to grieve the loss of the dad/husband in different ways and allow readers to see ways that the loss of a loved one is not ignored but dealt with in a sensitive and realistic manner. A must have for libraries and classrooms.
Eleven year old Jingwen, his little brother Yanghao and his mother have moved to Australia. The family dream was to move and open a bakery called Pie in the Sky but now the plans have changed as Jingwen’s dad suddenly passed away before they moved. Jingwen is all out of sorts and feels like he has landed on Mars. He is having difficulty adjusting to school, making friends and learning English. His mother works an evening night shift at a bakery and Jingwen is responsible for his younger brother during that time. Feeling lost and frustrated Jingwen feels that if he can reproduce the cakes that he and his father made back home - things will be better for him. The catch is his mother has said not to use the oven and stove. Believing he must make the cakes on their Pie in the Sky menu - Jingwen and his brother make the cakes in the evening which produces some interesting results. Will Jingwen succeed in baking all the cakes making things right in his world?
I love how @remaylai has used humour to deal with an all too familiar situation with many newcomers to our country. I also applaud her for allowing the family to grieve the loss of the dad/husband in different ways and allow readers to see ways that the loss of a loved one is not ignored but dealt with in a sensitive and realistic manner. A must have for libraries and classrooms.