Pie in the Sky

March 18, 2019
Lai centers her incisive illustrated novel debut on Jingwen, who moves from his unspecified home country to Australia with his mother and younger brother Yanghao after his father’s death. The boy mourns the loss of his father and feels like an alien among his fifth-grade classmates as he struggles to learn English, which sounds like “Martian words” (blue-tinged illustrations show others, then the boys, as space aliens in their daily life). Summoning memories of baking with Papa, Jingwen imagines the cakes they’d anticipated selling at Pie in the Sky, the bakery they planned to open upon moving. Jingwen vows to make the 12 cakes, believing this will preserve his memories of Papa—and that “cakes make everything better.” But his baking obsession leads to the betrayal of his hardworking mother’s trust, landing him and Yanghao in hot water. Though repetition of facts and dialogue (including the brothers’ penchant for calling each another “Booger”) at times thwarts the narrative flow, its pace accelerates in the final chapters as Lai adds a few surprise ingredients to concoct a deeply satisfying ending for this heartwarming immigrant story about sibling bonds, honesty, and surmounting obstacles. Ages 8–12.

April 1, 2019
Two brothers navigate a new country, a new language, and grief through cake. In this graphic/prose hybrid novel, 12-year-old Jingwen, his little brother, Yanghao, and their mother immigrate to Australia. The family is Chinese, though their home country is never specified. The boys start at the Northbridge Primary School not knowing any English, which has Jingwen feeling they have just arrived on Mars. Quickly he realizes it is he and Yanghao who must appear to be the Martians to everyone else, comically literalized with pictures of a four-eyed, antennae'd Jingwen. While Yanghao quickly picks up English, Jingwen resists, struggling in lessons and to make friends. Piece by piece readers learn it was Jingwen's father's dream to open a cake shop called Pie in the Sky in Australia before he suddenly passed away. After finding the family's cookbook, the boys decide to secretly bake all the Pie in the Sky cakes. Jingwen especially takes it to heart, pouring his grief and frustrations into every frosted layer, believing that it "will fix everything." Herself an immigrant to Australia from Singapore, Lai unfolds the story like a memory, giving brief flashbacks interspersed throughout the daily musings and nuanced relationships among family members. Jingwen's emotional journey is grounded in honest reality; it ebbs and flows naturally with strategic spots of humor to lighten the overall tone. Like salted caramel, a perfect balance of flavors, this deftly drawn story is a heartfelt treat. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 10-13)

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Starred review from June 1, 2019

Gr 3-6-Having recently immigrated to Australia, 11-year-old Jingwen feels like he's been dropped onto a strange planet full of gibberish-spouting aliens. He knows life would be easier if he learned more English like his annoyingly chipper, too-loud, too-energetic little brother Yanghao. But guilt over his father's accidental death festers. Worried that assimilating into Australian culture means he's forsaking his father's memory, Jingwen latches on to the idea that if he can make all the cakes his father planned to feature on the menu of his dream bakery, Pie in the Sky, then everything will be okay. Even if that means disobeying his mother's rules while she's working the night shift at a local bakery. Written from Jingwen's perspective, the text is augmented with humorous, often exaggerated black and blue spot and sequential paneled illustrations that offer a visual window into Jingwen's experiences and emotions. Frequent flashbacks to Jingwen's younger years in his (unnamed) country of origin contribute to strong character and relationship development and to the satisfying conclusion. Whether Jingwen and Yanghao are teasing, supporting, or bickering with each other, their relationship rings true. The humor, akin to that of Jeff Kinney's popular "Wimpy Kid" series, occasionally veers into the delightfully gross, such as when Yanghao barfs from one too many slices of cake. VERDICT A first purchase for all libraries, this #OwnVoices hybrid chapter book/graphic novel is the perfect mixture of funny and emotionally resonant.-Amy Seto Forrester, Denver Public Library

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