Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet ( and others)

I was a little leery of a book that takes place all in one somewhat ill-fated afternoon, but this turned out to be a very humorous story of a multicultural family event.

Ana Shen's father is Chinese-American, and her mother is African-American. For her 8th grade graduation, both sets of grandparents show up, and circumstances find them all in the kitchen working to put together a meal. The personalities and cultural differences are explored in an amusing and yet thought-provoking way. I will look for more from this author.

http://www.sherrilsmith.com/

Feel ambivalent about Norma Fox Mazer's The Missing Girl, because it is a creepy story about a child molester who targets a family of girls and abducts one of them. Good, but uncomforable. I suppose that is the point.

I was sure I would not like Leslie Connor's Waiting For Normal, given its quirky trailer park setting, but I ended up liking it a good deal. This will appeal greatly to fans of Cassidy's Scarlett or Wilson's The Illustrated Mum, since Addie's mother cannot function well enough to take proper care of her. Addie tries her best to raise herself, and is lucky enough to find some help along the way.