First, full disclosure – I met Lee McClain several years ago. She and another author were talking books. I didn’t know either of them were authors and jumped in with my 2 cents. 🙂 Anyway, found out she writes christian romance, which isn’t a genre I like to read, but she said she had written this one Middle Grade book. Ok, that I would give a try to.
Now, as you may know, my favorite genre is fantasy. Sizzle is definitely not fantasy. I felt for the girl, Linda, because she really had a hard time. What she really wanted to do was cook, but seemed to be thwarted at every turn.
I know a lot of kids aren’t into fantasy, and that’s fine because there are so many books out there to meet any of their tastes (ha ha, I used tastes with a book about cooking.) This is a very clean book, but it takes kids to a world they may not be familiar with as there is a lot of focus on the main characters Mexican background. There is quite a bit of talk about the food she learned to cook. Maybe it would inspire kids to try foods from other countries, that’s great.
I also loved the Aunt that had a TV show called Cooking with Cans! That is so great – why don’t we have a real show like that. But I can really appreciate Linda wanting to cook with fresh ingredients. That’s how I grew up, and I think more kids should experience that but don’t get the chance to do so.
If you’re looking for a good book that your child can relate to, this is a great choice. If they are at all interested in cooking they can probably relate to the main character quite a bit.
The below link takes you to Amazon if you are interested in the book.
Sizzle on Amazon
