(2) 4-6 Eleven-year-old Yumi is spending the summer helping her family's struggling Korean barbecue restaurant in L.A. and studying to earn an academic scholarship to the private school where she has just spent her sixth-grade year eating lunch alone in the bathroom. Her parents plan for her future, with her father reasoning, "I am an immigrant. I have no choice to do this hard work. But you...You can work in an office or hospital and be great success one day." Yumi's passion is comedy, however, and a case of mistaken identity leads to an opportunity to take a course taught by her comedic icon, driving Yumi to fulfill her ambition. Excerpts from her "Super-Secret Comedy Notebook," awash with jokes and doodles, and believable-sounding dialogue bring readers into the life of this high-spirited, if self-conscious, protagonist. The drama of an immigrant family working together to keep a business afloat in a gentrifying neighborhood connects readers to the hard work of achieving the American dream.

Reviewer: | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2020

(1) 4-6 After the "dog of [her] heart," dies, fourteen-year-old Beverly catches a ride with her loser cousin to Tamaray Beach, where she finds a job busing tables and a place to stay in return for driving elderly Iola Jenkins to bingo. Drawn with unusual depth, the members of Beverly's small community emerge as complex individuals but also, collectively, as a force for change and goodwill in this companion to Raymie Nightingale and Louisiana's Way Home.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2019

(3) YA While high-school sophomore Annie's father is on trial for real estate fraud, she and her older brother move to Breckenridge, Colorado, to live with her mom's estranged sister and her husband. There, Annie gets a job at her uncle's restaurant, loses her virginity, and learns a family secret. Annie's spoiled attitude is initially trying, but the maturity she displays by book's end feels earned.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Deborah Melmon. In line at a pizza place, Missy meets Jane, who exchanges Post-its from the restaurant's wall for her pizza. After Missy's dad explains that each Post-it represents a slice pre-purchased by another customer as a mitzvah (good deed), Missy is inspired to pay forward slices herself. Cheerful cartoonlike illustrations are a good match for the girls' friendship; an author's note describes the Philadelphia shop on which the story is based.

Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith

(2) PS Felix & Fiona series. In the guinea pig pals' fourth book (Felix Stands Tall, et al.), cautious Felix steps out of his comfort zone again, here at a Chinese restaurant. Particular about food, Felix has "no need to try anything new." Cheered on along the way by Fiona, Felix eventually eats "twelve new things!" Wells's friendly illustrations gently portray Felix's concerns about the unfamiliar without allowing them to overwhelm the story.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2019

(3) 4-6 Checkerboard Library: Female Foodies series. Short chapters present straightforward biographies of inspiring female food entrepreneurs and cover the evolution, growth, and success of their empires. Each volume's second-person-perspective introduction provides a you-are-there connection for readers. Captioned color photographs, "Food Bite" sidebars of additional facts, and an appended "By the Numbers" statistics section are included in every book. Timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Checkerboard Library: Female Foodies titles: Angie Bastian, Debbi Fields, Marie Callender, Peggy Cherng, Rose Totino, and Ruth Fertel.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) 4-6 Checkerboard Library: Female Foodies series. Short chapters present straightforward biographies of inspiring female food entrepreneurs and cover the evolution, growth, and success of their empires. Each volume's second-person-perspective introduction provides a you-are-there connection for readers. Captioned color photographs, "Food Bite" sidebars of additional facts, and an appended "By the Numbers" statistics section are included in every book. Timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Checkerboard Library: Female Foodies titles: Angie Bastian, Debbi Fields, Marie Callender, Peggy Cherng, Rose Totino, and Ruth Fertel.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) 4-6 Checkerboard Library: Female Foodies series. Short chapters present straightforward biographies of inspiring female food entrepreneurs and cover the evolution, growth, and success of their empires. Each volume's second-person-perspective introduction provides a you-are-there connection for readers. Captioned color photographs, "Food Bite" sidebars of additional facts, and an appended "By the Numbers" statistics section are included in every book. Timeline. Glos., ind. Review covers these Checkerboard Library: Female Foodies titles: Angie Bastian, Debbi Fields, Marie Callender, Peggy Cherng, Rose Totino, and Ruth Fertel.

Reviewer: Gail Hedges

(3) K-3 Odd-couple friends Moo Moo and Mr. Quackers (Moo Moo in a Tutu) return in their second comics-format misadventure. Moo Moo's latest "best idea ever!" is to open a restaurant with her pal; predictably, the food is hilariously revolting. Typically grumpy Mr. Quackers is remarkably positive about the restaurant's inevitable flop: "At least we got to spend quality time together!" The droll Far Side–esque visual aesthetic perfectly matches the characters' oblivious dialogue.

Reviewer: Katie Bircher

(3) 4-6 Sprinkle Sundays series. After Allie's parents get divorced, her mom opens an ice cream shop, where Allie and her best friends, Sierra and Tamiko, work every Sunday (Sundaes). As this well-written series continues, Tamiko struggles under Allie's strict supervision (Cone), and Sierra temporarily turns the shop into a kitten café (Scoop). Different narrators give each book its unique perspective on handling change and navigating friendship and family. Review covers these Sprinkle Sundays titles: Cracks in the Cone, The Purr-fect Scoop, and Sunday Sundaes.

Reviewer: Lana Barnes

(3) 4-6 Sprinkle Sundays series. After Allie's parents get divorced, her mom opens an ice cream shop, where Allie and her best friends, Sierra and Tamiko, work every Sunday (Sundaes). As this well-written series continues, Tamiko struggles under Allie's strict supervision (Cone), and Sierra temporarily turns the shop into a kitten café (Scoop). Different narrators give each book its unique perspective on handling change and navigating friendship and family. Review covers these Sprinkle Sundays titles: Cracks in the Cone, The Purr-fect Scoop, and Sunday Sundaes.

Reviewer: Lana Barnes

(3) 4-6 Sprinkle Sundays series. After Allie's parents get divorced, her mom opens an ice cream shop, where Allie and her best friends, Sierra and Tamiko, work every Sunday (Sundaes). As this well-written series continues, Tamiko struggles under Allie's strict supervision (Cone), and Sierra temporarily turns the shop into a kitten café (Scoop). Different narrators give each book its unique perspective on handling change and navigating friendship and family. Review covers these Sprinkle Sundays titles: Cracks in the Cone, The Purr-fect Scoop, and Sunday Sundaes.

Reviewer: Lana Barnes

(3) 4-6 Quinnie Boyd's family runs beloved Gusty's Café in seaside Maiden Rock, Maine, but there's a fancy new restaurant in town threatening their business. Coincidentally, that's when somebody starts trying to sabotage Gusty's. Tension in Quinnie's diverse group of middle-school friends rings true as do her family's financial worries in the third small-town mystery starring Miss Boyd (The Maypop Kidnapping; Vampires on the Run).

Reviewer: Lisa Catherine Findlay

(4) YA Victoria Navarro's BFFs are dispersing come graduation, and Happies, a beloved restaurant in their California desert hometown, is shutting its doors. A final, epic party--ideally, a bash that affronts Vic's nemesis and scores Vic a hookup with her crush--feels only fitting. A light and diverting read heavy on contrivance; instances of stereotyping undermine the inclusive nature of the novel's quirky cast.

Reviewer: Rebecca Hachmyer

(4) K-3 Scholastic Reader series. Moby the kid ninja (Ninja on the Farm) is this time looking to help Papa Peppy at the pizza restaurant. But ninja skills and food service don't necessarily mix. Rhyming couplets run along the tops of pages, with onomatopoeia sprinkled into the pictures. The highly detailed, vibrant, and action-orientated illustrations are great for movement, but they leave emerging readers with little rest for their eyes.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(3) K-3 This catchy title relates Ruth Wakefield's successful career as a baker and restaurateur as well as the lore surrounding how exactly her invention of the chocolate chip cookie came about; the three speculated versions of the cookies' creation make for an interesting tale. Ford's bright, cartoony illustrations' vintage aesthetic brings out the Depression-era setting. An author's note and the original recipe are appended. Bib.

Reviewer: Christina Dorr

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Edwardian Taylor. In this metafictional fairy-tale retelling, the narrator pushes reluctant hero Jack to follow the prescribed story line, but young Jack--via speech balloons--keeps highlighting the plot's ridiculousness. Their playful banter ends with Jack refusing to follow the narrator's ending and instead opening up a beans restaurant with the giant. Taylor's cartoony digital illustrations enhance the humor and feature lots of recognizable fairy-tale characters.

Reviewer: Jeannie Coutant

(4) YA Her father is abroad finding himself, leaving seventeen-year-old Delilah to manage the family café on her own. She ditches school, partly because the business is going under and partly to watch Rosa, a dancer at a nearby tapas restaurant. Delilah's voice is bright and compelling, but the various teen hijinks are a bit too over the top to be believable.

Reviewer: Sarah Hannah Gomez

(4) 4-6 RV-dweller Derby and her family spend the summers selling burgers outside a minor-league baseball stadium in rural Virginia; this particular summer is difficult due to tragedy in town during the past year. Evolving relationships make for poignant moments, but Derby's sometimes-irritating voice tends to weigh the story down. The novel feels nostalgic, but it's unclear when it's set.

Reviewer: Shoshana Flax

(3) 4-6 Lailu, a brilliant young chef specializing in the hunting and cooking of fantastical beasts, opens a restaurant with mentor Master Slipshod. But when Slipshod makes a bad deal with a loan shark, Lailu must save herself and the restaurant from mobster-like Mr. Boss. A clever, fast-paced story in a unique fantasy world populated with eccentric characters, both good and evil (including the ruthless "elf mafia").

Reviewer: Nancy Sheridan