Ariel is a middle-schooler who knows just what she wants to
do with her life. She's going to be a chef. Her two best
friends, Nicki and Mattie, are very supportive of Ariel's
dreams -- even as they devour her culinary creations. The
trio seems inseparable. But all that could change, because
Mattie's mother just announced that they are going to
move. The girls hatch a plot to have Mattie stay with
Ariel's family until the end of the year. But living
together isn't quite the experience either girl expected,
and now the third best friend, Nicki, has become
secretive regarding mysterious calls that come to
her "emergency" cell phone. Things get so tense that the
girls start avoiding each other. A time that should bring
them closer may sever their bond altogether.
Ariel has to face her own weaknesses, most notably her
jealousy as Mattie tries to find a place in Ariel's daily
family life. This also forces Ariel to explore and come to
terms with her dissatisfaction with her own family
dynamic. Her parents are portrayed as caring, three-
dimensional people with their daughter's best interest at
heart. Yet, they don't overwhelm Ariel, letting her
instead make her own decisions and mistakes. Overall, this
is a warm, touching book.
THE CREPE MAKERS' BOND contains recipes for many of the
dishes Ariel cooks. The instructions are clearly written,
and the level of kitchen skills required is appropriate for
an advanced beginner. This is a good introduction to
cooking that just might inspire a few other middle-
schoolers to dream of being chefs. This book is the sequel
to Crabtree's Discovering Pig Magic, which won the
2008 Milkweed Prize for Children's Literature. That book
was narrated by Mattie. We can only hope that Crabtree
follows this one up with Nicki's story.
Ariel is the head chef in her family kitchen. Cucumber
salads, fettuccine carbonara, fish tacos, and peanut
butter pie are just a few of the dishes she crafts when
she’s feeling frustrated by the world. And it’s turning
into a frustrating year. Ariel, Nicki, and Mattie have
been inseparable friends since they were little kids, but
now Mattie’s mom has decided to move away. It’s the girls’
last year in middle school, and they can’t fathom being
separated.
The friends concoct a plan that will keep
Mattie in the Bay area — she’ll move in with Ariel and her
family. But before you can say "bff," the party is over.
Everything Mattie does gets on Ariel’s nerves, and it’s
not long before the girls are avoiding each other. This
was supposed to be their best year ever, but some painful
lessons are threatening to tear their friendship apart.
Can the girls scramble to make things right before the
bond crumbles?
Excerpt
The earthquake started like they always do. Suddenly.
Nicki and M were sitting on barstools watching me fold won
tons one minute, and the next second we were all thrown on
the floor. I instinctively crouched against the cabinets as
the wave-like motion of the earth rattled the flour
canister off the counter. It hit my arm on its way down. My
hearing became incredibly sharp. I instantly registered
clacking silverware, pots and pans jingling deep within the
cabinets, glasses and bowls clattering delicately, and
outside the jarring blares of dozens of car alarms. My own
sharp breathing was loudest of all. The floor’s vibration
traveled through my knees and hummed in my belly. Shredded
carrots and a won ton wrapper tumbled from the counter and
landed next to me.
M yelled, "Stay down, Nicki!"
I heard Nicki say something but the fruit bowl clattered
to the ground just then and I couldn’t make out words, only
the fear. An apple rolled to a stop against my leg and,
insanely, I wondered if the fall had bruised it.
Then, just as suddenly, it stopped. I stood up
cautiously and peeked out the window. A hose reel had
tumbled onto my mother’s border of violets, smashing their
delicate purple heads into the dirt. Our neighbor’s wind
chime had fallen and shattered.
Nicki’s voice startled me out of my trance. She
asked, "Are you both okay?"
I looked over at M, who was picking up paper napkins
that had dropped to the floor with the first jolt. She
nodded. No one said anything else. It was one of those
weird frozen-in-time moments, like we were just hovering in
space or something. I realized it was the absolute
motionlessness of the earth that created this sensation.
There is no more complete feeling of stillness then
right after an earthquake. You can’t imagine how unmoving
ground feels like such a gift. You want to trust it, but
you can’t. See, there are always aftershocks, little jolts
and pulses beneath your feet reminding you that nothing is
ever completely reliable. Not even the ground under your
feet.
In my mind I always see that day, the day of the quake,
as the point when things began to shift between me and M
and Nicki. I would begin to see everything that happened as
either before the quake or after the quake. It was the
start of the hardest year of my life. Well, my life so far."
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