Editor’s note: when I received a copy of Grace from the American Girl company, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. It was the story of a little girl who bakes, and I’m sure the food connection is why the company sent me the book, but this was really a little out of my bailiwick. So we gave the book to our neighbor, Anna Miller, who is an eight-year-old third grader at Beye School. When Anna heard that I wasn’t going to review it, she immediately volunteered, “I’ll review it.” Here is her review, which is a lot better than I could do with the same material.
Grace by Mary Casanova is the first in a series of three books about Grace Thomas, the 2015 “American Girl Doll of the Year.” Grace is a nine-year-old girl who loves to bake and make new recipes. Grace’s grandparents are bakers, and in the book Grace learns to how to modify and improve the family recipes.
In the beginning of the story, Grace and her mother are invited to Paris to help run her Aunt Sophie’s “patisserie” (French for bakery). At first, life in Paris isn’t easy. Learning French is hard, and her cousin Sylvie isn’t very welcoming. To make matters worse, her two best friends at home have started a business without her!
Grace is feeling like everything is going wrong until she receives some good guidance from her father, who simply challenges her by asking “What are you going to do about it? ” This starts Grace thinking and she turns things around. As she starts baking with her cousin, her confidence grows and her French improves by more than a little. She also meets a little dog and names it Bonbon. When her little furry friend goes missing, Grace is worried. But on the way to the airport to return home they are reunited and Grace takes Bonbon home with her to the States.
When I read Grace, I felt a very strong connection with the title character. It was almost as though we were the same girl. We’re about the same age, and we both come from baking families (my Grandpa and my Aunt are bakers just like hers!). We also both love to bake and experiment in the kitchen. I don’t often read a book and feel such a strong connection with a character, but if our worlds were switched around, Grace might say the same for me!
Grace isn’t just a story; it’s informative as well. However, it’s not a cookbook; in fact, it doesn’t have recipes at all, though I did learn the names of many delicious-sounding French pastries. For instance, I’d never even heard of a millefeuille (a layered pastry with a glazed top of swirly chocolate and vanilla icing) or a macaroon (two crunchy cookies stuck together with a layer of delicious frosting in between).
I’d recommend Grace to anyone who likes American Girl Books – and especially to those who enjoy baking and trying new things. I’d also recommend this book to adventurous readers (and eaters). I think it’s a wonderful book not just because it’s a great story but because it’s inspiring and heartwarming. Hungry readers will gobble it up in minutes!
