Warning: Once you open The Doughnut King, you’ll be stuck in the story for eternity. Start reading it, and you’ll never stop. Well, that is, until author Jessie Janowitz decides to free you by officially changing the story. The Doughnut King is filled with the perfect amount of action and sweetness, enough to create a robust portal that transports you into the story. Meet Tristan Levin, known as Tris. Tris has been cooking and baking before he learned how to say “food.” Tris moves to a small town in New York called Petersville. Petersville is slowly disappearing, but not the way you think it is. Every year, only a couple of families move to Petersville. A couple, as in two or three. More people move away than people who move to Petersville, and the mayor of Petersville, Jim, thinks this needs to be stopped. There are only one stoplight and a couple of shops. Tris has a doughnut shop he runs in Petersville with his friend Josh, called The Doughnut Stop. The Doughnut Shop’s doughnuts are impressive, according to everyone. Jim thinks food will keep Petersville from disappearing and makes that a goal. Tris needs to make more doughnuts, but he and Josh are already trying their best. Many people come to get doughnuts but have to wait four hours, only to see the words: SOLD OUT. If only there would be a way to make more donuts, he could maybe save Petersville. Even more excitement awaits in the book. Tris finds a solution to the doughnut problem: A Doughnut Robot. This robot makes ninety dozens donuts an hour, which is perfect for their business. Actually, even better than perfect. There’s a big problem, though, which is that the Doughnut Robot costs $50,000. Now Tris’s whole family knows about the Doughnut Robot and its cost. Before he knows it, his nine-year-old sister Jeanine has secretly sent an audition video to a famous cooking contest, “Can You Cut It?” and they accept the video. Tris is mad, but the rest of the family thinks it is a fantastic idea, and mostly because if he wins, he gets $100,000, enough to buy a Doughnut Robot. Tris is still unsure if he has enough courage and talent to win the prize, though. The book is fantastic, with many surprising and unexpected features. But some elements in the book confuse me, especially in the first few chapters. In chapter three, Tris sees a comment that tells how bad the Doughnut Stop is, and he tries to delete it but can’t, and then Josh walks in. Tris asks him how to delete them, and Josh tells him he forgot and didn’t finish, and then it says: “But Josh didn’t need to finish. The truth was floating right over his head in caps.” What truth? It doesn’t clarify what truth it talks about in the book. Then Tris says Josh lied. Lied about what? Why did he lie? The dialogue is very unclear in those pages, which often confuses people. Nevertheless, The Doughnut King’s story is embedded in unexpected but fascinating characters, settings, and plots. Predict what will happen, and you will probably be surprised; unpredictable always, always, happens in The Doughnut King. The Doughnut King is highly recommended to any reader, especially those who love baking and cooking. Anyone can enjoy such an incredible book. The Doughnut King by Jessie Janowitz. Sourcebooks Young Readers, 2020. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
Book Reviews
When You Reach Me, Reviewed by Pragnya, 12
Have you ever looked out the window and wished for something extraordinary to happen? Well, in Mira’s case, extraordinary things come looking for her. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead is a perfect portrayal of how extraordinary things can happen in what seemed to be an ordinary life. Set in 1970s New York, the reader follows the engrossing voice of 12-year-old Miranda Sinclair, a curious, imaginative tween, who makes you travel straight into the heart of her life, with a complete tour of the Upper West Side, making you feel part of it. In the beginning, Miranda’s life seems pretty normal until one day, when herself and her best friend Sal were walking back from school, a boy simply walks up and punches Sal in the face. At first, it seems like a simple case of bullying, but ever since the incident, weird things start happening. Miranda’s house key goes missing, and then she gets a mysterious note that says: ‘M, I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own. I ask for two favors. First, you must write me a letter.’ The notes keep on coming, and with increasing weirdness. For example, when she shows the first note to her mother, the second note tells her not to show them to anyone, which meant that she was alone. With further investigation and occurrences that seem more than a simple coincidence with the cryptic notes, the plot slowly starts unravelling, and Miranda, along with us, discovers an eerily fictitious yet somehow realistic mystery involving her interactions with Marcus, the boy who punched Sal, the laughing man-a homeless person living under a mailbox on Miranda’s street, the book A Wrinkle in Time, and a lot more cleverly added details that make you want to scour this book for clues. This book amazes me with its perfect balance between fiction and reality, as it contains all the perfect elements of a typical middle grade novel; friendships, rivalry, even a bit of romance, but it also contains a je-ne-seis-quoi of sorts, with its air of mystique and suspense that just urges you to turn the page over and find out what happens next. Another fascinating thing about this book is its genre. Even though it is labelled as science- fiction, or mystery, I think this phrase from the novel sums it all up perfectly, and that this book explores the depths of ‘life, death and the beauty of it all.’ To say this book is well-written is an understatement, and its coming-of-age story will definitely make you enjoy the book, and I am sure this it will linger in your mind long after you have finished it. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. Yearling Books, 2010. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
Out of My Mind, Reviewed by Jessie, 8
One day in my reading class we had to read Out of my Mind for homework. I took a look at the bright blue cover and the thickness of the book, and thought that I wouldn’t like it because it was not going to be interesting, and it would be too long. We read the first chapter of the book in class. The first chapter of the book was really short, and it was about words. It was pretty boring. After the class I read some of the book. Five days later I had finished the book. This book turned out to be very interesting. Out of my Mind is a book about a girl named Melody Brooks, and her life. Melody can’t talk or walk and her body is very stiff. She has a disability named cerebral palsy. In the book lots of sad things happen to her as well as many happy things. Melody needs perseverance in this book. One example is she needs to keep, and keep practice for the Whiz Kids team. Melody also is brave in this book. An example for how she is brave is she goes to Mrs. Dimming’s room even though Melody is really mad and sad at the Whiz kids team kids because they abandoned her. Melody is misunderstood by most people because they think her brain is messed up just like the rest of her. Most of her teachers, doctors and other students unfortunately don’t treat her very well. They treat her from her outside and think Melody’s outside is the same as her inside. She also remembers everything really well from a lump of oatmeal stuck on the roof of her mouth to the mailman who comes to the door. “Mornin’, Mrs. Brooks. How’s the baby?” Out of my Mind is a really heart-warming story about a disabled girl. Melody is really smart despite what you see from the outside. Just like her mother said, “she has a spark. More than that-a flame of real intelligence. I just know it.” The book makes you really want to help Melody with all the trouble she has. And with the mean people (like Molly and Claire) it makes you find yourself really want to shut them up. I highly recommend Out of my Mind by Sharon M. Draper to everyone (including other disabled people). The book is for everyone and everyone should read it. I learned my lesson to (literally) never judge a book by its cover and thickness. Just remember the next time you see another disabled person see them from their inside NOT there outside. Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2012. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process!
