All Four Stars

An Amazon Best Book of the Month: July 2014
An Amazon Editors’ Pick for Middle Grade Summer Reading 

“A scrumptious gem of a story!”—Jennifer A. Nielsen, New York Times bestselling author of The False Prince
 
Meet Gladys Gatsby: New York’s toughest restaurant critic. (Just don’t tell anyone that she’s in sixth grade.)
 
Gladys Gatsby has been cooking gourmet dishes since the age of seven, only her fast-food-loving parents have no idea! Now she’s eleven, and after a crème brûlée accident (just a small fire), Gladys is cut off from the kitchen (and her allowance). She’s devastated but soon finds just the right opportunity to pay her parents back when she’s mistakenly contacted to write a restaurant review for one of the largest newspapers in the world.
 
But in order to meet her deadline and keep her dream job, Gladys must cook her way into the heart of her sixth-grade archenemy and sneak into New York City—all while keeping her identity a secret! Easy as pie, right?

• ISBN10: 0399162526
• ISBN13: 9780399162527
• Publish Date: 10 July 2014
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Out of Print: 24 June 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 288
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780399162527

Reviews

[Heather]

Gladys loves food.  She loves to read about it, cook it, and eat it.  Her parents don't care about food at all.  They pick up dinner from fast food restaurants every night.  If they do try to cook, they believe that everything can be cooked just as well in a microwave as on a stove or oven.

Because of this Gladys as been cooking in secret for years.  She gets caught the day that her parents come home early just as she sets the kitchen curtains on fire while trying to crisp the top of a creme brulee. 

Now she's in trouble.  Cooking is forbidden for six months and/or until she makes some friends and gets involved with what her parents consider normal kids' activities. 

She's trying to comply but when her entry into a newspaper essay contest in confused for a job application for a freelance food writer, she gets an assignment to review a dessert restaurant.  Now she has to find a way to get to New York City from Long Island for her chance to make it big.

This book was really cute.  It would appeal to anyone who is more into food than the people around them.  If your family doesn't understand why full fat is better to cook with than nonfat or why you can't use coffee shop sweetener packets instead of sugar when baking, then you understand Gladys' troubles. 

My only complaint is that I wish there were recipes for the desserts she made.This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story