Pie in the Sky
Remy Lai
Pie in the Sky
Remy Lai
El Deafo meets Inside Out and Back Again in this funny, emotional illustrated middle-grade debut novel about immigrating to Australia, being upstaged by an annoying little brother, baking cakes and overcoming loss.
When Jingwen moves to Australia, he feels like he’s landed on Mars. School is torture, making friends is impossible, since he doesn’t speak English, and he’s stuck looking after his (extremely irritating) little brother, Yanghao.
To distract himself from the loneliness, Jingwen daydreams about making all the cakes on the menu of the bakery his father had planned to open before he unexpectedly passed away. The only problem is his mother’s rule: no using the oven while she’s at work. As Jingwen and Yanghao bake more elaborate cakes, they’ll have to cook up more elaborate excuses to keep their baking a secret - and continue the dream their father started.
Review
Kim Gruschow
Jingwen, his mother and his pesky little brother, Yanghao, have just moved to Australia. It’s noteasy starting a new life in a new country and Jingwen feels like an alien. This book is part novel and part comic with indecipherable symbols used cleverly to represent English words that Jingwen doesn’t yet understand. Jingwen finds comfort in cakes and the boys really miss their dad, who had dreams of starting his own fancy cake shop.
While their mum is at work they secretly start to bake all of the epic cakes that their dad had planned to sell in his shop, even though Mum has told them not to use the oven. Yanghao is cheeky but their sibling relationship is charming and this book is as funny as it is moving. Their passion for cakes is truly endearing. Thankfully there’s a recipe for rainbow cake included at the end because young bakers will be inspired and all readers will be left craving a big, delicious slice. Looking at immigration, family and grief, this is an exceptionally sweet book, featuring exceptional sweets.
Highly recommended for ages 9+.
Kim Gruschow is the children’s book buyer at Readings St Kilda.
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