{"id":36400,"date":"2019-08-18T19:27:54","date_gmt":"2019-08-18T23:27:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=36400"},"modified":"2019-08-18T19:30:10","modified_gmt":"2019-08-18T23:30:10","slug":"review-of-pie-in-the-sky-by-remy-lai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=36400","title":{"rendered":"Review of Pie in the Sky, by Remy Lai"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Pie in the Sky<\/em><\/p>\n

by Remy Lai<\/p>\n

Henry Holt, 2019. 380 pages.
\nStarred Review
\nReview written July 5, 2019, from a library book<\/p>\n

I only read this book because someone nominated it to Capitol Choices<\/a> (a group of DC-area librarians who select what we think are the 100 best children\u2019s book of the year), but I thought the cartoony cover and comic panels woven through the text meant it would be too much like the Wimpy Kid<\/em> books for me. I ended up wholeheartedly loving it.<\/p>\n

Now, there are lots of comic panels included, which I think makes the book all the more accessible. But the story goes a lot deeper than you might think.<\/p>\n

Jingwen and his annoying younger brother Yanghao are moving with their mother to Australia. The book never tells which country they\u2019re moving from, though the author was born in Indonesia, grew up in Singapore, and now lives in Australia. (So alas! It\u2019s not eligible to win the Newbery.)<\/p>\n

I like the way the comic panels show people talking with words Jingwen doesn\u2019t understand as speech bubbles with strange squiggles. At first, he feels like he\u2019s on an alien planet, and draws them as space aliens. But after awhile, he feels like he is the alien, and draws himself with six eyes and tentacles.<\/p>\n

But this isn\u2019t only about Jingwen and Yanghao adjusting to a new country with a new language while their mother works hard and leaves Jingwen to tend Yanghao much of the time. The book is also about Jingwen working through how much he misses his Papa, who died two years earlier.<\/p>\n

Papa had talked about moving to Australia. He was going to open a fancy cake shop there and call it Pie in the Sky.<\/em><\/p>\n

Papa\u2019s English was only slightly less terrible than mine, but he knew a pie<\/em> is not a cake<\/em>. It\u2019s just that he had a friend who spoke fluent English who told him the meaning of the idiom pie in the sky<\/em> — an impossible dream.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Back home, Jingwen\u2019s parents worked in his grandparents\u2019 bake shop. But on Sundays, Jingwen\u2019s Papa used to bake fancy cakes with Jingwen, cakes they planned to sell in their future Pie in the Sky<\/em> cake shop.<\/p>\n

Jingwen decides that what he needs to do to make life go better in Australia and to properly honor his Papa is bake all twelve of the Pie in the Sky<\/em> cakes. Never mind that their mother doesn\u2019t want them to touch the oven while she is not home.<\/p>\n

They buy ingredients and he makes a list of rules for Yanghao to follow so he doesn\u2019t cause trouble and give everything away.<\/p>\n

But the plan isn\u2019t simple to carry out. And meantime, he\u2019s trying to adjust to a new country and a new language, which his annoying little brother picks up much more quickly.<\/p>\n

This book with comic panel illustrations has an amazing amount of depth and poignancy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen someone is feeling sad, they can\u2019t help but smile at the sight of a cake.\u201d<\/p>\n

remylai.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Fiction\/pie_in_the_sky.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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