Looking Back - World of Pies

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

World of Pies by Karen Stolz

Fiction

2000 Hyperion

Finished on May 14, 2001

Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

Set in a small town in Texas in the 1960s, where there “wasn’t a lot to pick from summer job-wise: counter girl at Jerry’s Dairy King, shampoo girl at Babs’s Tint ‘n’ Clip,” or the maid job at the Bluebonnet Motel, World of Pies introduces readers to a young girl, Roxanne, as she begins to come of age.

Roxanne is twelve years old and crazy about baseball in 1962, the year of a pie baking contest that will change her life forever. Readers get a first-hand glimpse at Roxanne as she witnesses her first piece of racial politics, when her mother makes an issue of the fact that a neighbor is entering a pie baked by her black maid under her own name. The summer of 1962 brings Roxanne her first glance of life that isn’t always fair, yet readers still return to the warmth and coziness of small town life where Roxanne is blossoming into a young woman. In other exquisitely written vignettes that add up to a delightful episodic novel, Roxanne can be found debating the virtues of nail polish and makeup with her best friend, or trying to figure out what sort of summer job is available in such a small town as Annette.

The recipes following each chapter–which include Aunt Ruthie’s Cinnamon Rolls, Mabel’s Angel Food Cake with Chocolate Sauce, and of course Miss Cherry Pie–evoke a sweet sensation that makes Annette, Texas seem more like home than anywhere else in the whole world. Filled with a unique blend of just the right ingredients–love, compassion, and humor, readers will enjoy the smells, tastes, and comforts of Annette long after they finish World of Pies.

My Original Thoughts (2001):

A quick, light read. Quite enjoyable in spite of the simplistic writing. 

My Current Thoughts:

I wish I still had my copy of this book! I don't remember too much about it, but it would be fun to read it again. According to my reading journal, I read it in less than two days. Sounds like a perfect summer read!