Nixie Ness: Cooking Star by Claudia Mills, Grace Zong
Published by Margaret Ferguson Books on June 11th 2019
ISBN: 0823440931
Pages: 144
Goodreads

When third grader Nixie’s mother goes back to work it up heaves her perfect after school routine of hanging out with her best friend, Grace. To Nixie’s horror, she is enrolled in an after school cooking program while Grace is sent to a new friend’s house. Nixie watches as Grace’s new friendship develops which leads to jealousy and resentment of her own parents. After some poorly planned attempts to win Grace back, Nixie loses it and hits rock bottom but don’t worry: it all turns out OK.

I didn’t find Nixie a particularly endearing character but the supporting characters are sweet and funny and the overall message here is a good one. So many kids in this age group struggle with losing friends or sharing friends or making new friends that many will be able to recognize parts of themselves in this book making it perfect for reading aloud to a classroom that might be in the middle of social restructuring. The descriptions of the cooking and baking projects are great and this would work equally well for use in a cooking unit. Bonus points for sharing Nixie’s favorite recipe at the end!

Reviewed by Sarah Maciejewski, Patten free Library, Bath