The Crepe Makers' Bond by Julia Crabtree
Ariel, M, and Nicki are best friends beginning eighth grade, excited about the upcoming school year and the time the trio will spend together. The book opens with the three in Ariel's family's kitchen and an earthquake rattles the walls and Ariel counts the changes in their lives from the earthquake, when their easy going friendships changed.
Ariel loves to cook and experiment in the kitchen and between each chapter is a recipe, one of the dishes that Ariel mentions in the story (either something she makes for her family, her friends, or a recipe discussed). While it is unique to the story, it also feels a little gimmicky; sometimes dishes are mentioned just to mention a dish and it does not flow well with the story.
M is on the shy side; her mother is agoraphobic and her parents divorced so M feels she spends a lot of time watching and helping out her mother. M and Ariel have been friends since they were very young, and Nicki only moved into the neighborhood a few years ago.
Nicki is bubbly and the peacemaker and has been distracted an odd of late. Ariel and M try to ask her what is bothering her but Nicki does not like to talk about herself and continually deflects the question. Crabtree does a good job of drawing out the suspense of Nicki's story but when her secret is revealed it is done at the last possible moment, feels rushed and an unimportant part of the story.
Not very long into the school year, M discovers her mother has a new job and they have to move. Ariel and M, to prevent M from leaving, come up with a brilliant idea: M should move in with Ariel's family for the rest of the school year so M can finish middle school with her friends and start fresh at her new high school. Amazingly, both sets of parents agree to this scheme and for the first few days or weeks (the timeline is not very clear) all goes well. Then it's small things that start to bother Ariel, and she confesses that she should have told M the problems to begin with, but does not.
The two finally have it out (leaving poor Nicki in the middle) and the consequences for the friendship are grave. But as most books written for the middle school level, it ends on a positive note for (almost) all the characters.
The Crepe Makers' Bond was a quick read and a good contemporary story; however the voices of the characters felt off, sometimes too old and at other times too young, some of the recipes forced, conclusions a little rushed. I think there will be a very small niche of readers interested in the recipes of the book; I don't know many middle school students who as often as Ariel does. It's a positive story about growing up and the changes that happen in friendships over the years.
Ariel loves to cook and experiment in the kitchen and between each chapter is a recipe, one of the dishes that Ariel mentions in the story (either something she makes for her family, her friends, or a recipe discussed). While it is unique to the story, it also feels a little gimmicky; sometimes dishes are mentioned just to mention a dish and it does not flow well with the story.
M is on the shy side; her mother is agoraphobic and her parents divorced so M feels she spends a lot of time watching and helping out her mother. M and Ariel have been friends since they were very young, and Nicki only moved into the neighborhood a few years ago.
Nicki is bubbly and the peacemaker and has been distracted an odd of late. Ariel and M try to ask her what is bothering her but Nicki does not like to talk about herself and continually deflects the question. Crabtree does a good job of drawing out the suspense of Nicki's story but when her secret is revealed it is done at the last possible moment, feels rushed and an unimportant part of the story.
Not very long into the school year, M discovers her mother has a new job and they have to move. Ariel and M, to prevent M from leaving, come up with a brilliant idea: M should move in with Ariel's family for the rest of the school year so M can finish middle school with her friends and start fresh at her new high school. Amazingly, both sets of parents agree to this scheme and for the first few days or weeks (the timeline is not very clear) all goes well. Then it's small things that start to bother Ariel, and she confesses that she should have told M the problems to begin with, but does not.
The two finally have it out (leaving poor Nicki in the middle) and the consequences for the friendship are grave. But as most books written for the middle school level, it ends on a positive note for (almost) all the characters.
The Crepe Makers' Bond was a quick read and a good contemporary story; however the voices of the characters felt off, sometimes too old and at other times too young, some of the recipes forced, conclusions a little rushed. I think there will be a very small niche of readers interested in the recipes of the book; I don't know many middle school students who as often as Ariel does. It's a positive story about growing up and the changes that happen in friendships over the years.
Labels: contemporary fiction, female characters
posted by austentatious at 5:19 PM
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