Everyday French Cooking and Beef it Up!

EVERYDAY FRENCH COOKING by Wini Moranville is all about “Modern French Cuisine Made Simple.” With over ten sections split between offerings like salads, soups, casseroles, and side dishes, Moranville shares insights and recipes from more than twenty summers living and cooking in France. This new cookbook is full of appetizing images (e.g., see Roasted Beet Salad or the Roasted Asparagus and Cheese Tartlets on the cover) for basic, yet elegant and delicious French cooking. I am excited to try a number of these, including Chicken, Comté, and Spinach Salad or choosing between Silky and Light Potato Soup and Roasted Butternut Squash Bisque. The Sauté, Deglaze and Serve suggestions include multiple ways to prepare chicken – with a sherry-mushroom sauce, with tarragon, or with Calvados. Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? There is no nutrition information provided, but the layout of EVERYDAY FRENCH COOKING, with double-page spreads often containing a recipe and an accompanying photo, invites browsing, particularly since Moranville periodically suggests pairings of main courses, salads, and desserts – Enjoy!!  

BEEF IT UP! By Jessica Formicola is exactly what the subtitle promises: “50 Mouthwatering Recipes for Ground Beef, Steaks, Stews, Roasts, Ribs, and More.” Formicola, a self-described TV personality, cookbook author, and small business coach, divides the text into sections like Small Bites, Hefty Soups, and Meaty Mains. She offers a nice introduction with helpful information on which cuts to purchase and even which salt to use to enhance flavor. The pictures which accompany many of the recipes are colorful, but there is no nutrition information provided. Formicola does offer ideas using a variety of techniques (e.g., slow cooker, sheet pan, oven, and/or grill) - that is a plus. However, despite multiple assurances that the recipes are less involved than they appear, I thought they were not that “easy” to prepare. One small example is that the Delish Beef Knishes have over a dozen ingredients, including already cooked mashed potatoes. If you love beef and are looking for new ideas (like Gouda Stuffed Flank Steak or Bacon Cheeseburger in a Bowl) give BEEF IT UP! a try, but be prepared to plan ahead.

The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle

THE WEDDING DRESS SEWING CIRCLE is another wonderful historical fiction novel from Jennifer Ryan. Her earlier works include The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir, The Spies of Shilling Lane, and The Kitchen Front. Also set in a small English village during WWII, THE WEDDING DRESS SEWING CIRCLE portrays the lives of several women: Grace, the vicar’s daughter; Violet, a young aristocrat conscripted for war work; and Cressida, her aunt who has become a well-known fashion designer. They struggle in different ways to balance society’s expectations with their own, often unformed, dreams. Ryan once again depicts a close-knit, supportive group of women – this time focused on sewing and clothes rationing during the war. She refers to numerous government efforts like Mend and Make Do and the IncSoc Utility contest. Those activities raise interesting questions about the role of fashion, consumerism, and social class. And, of course, there is an element of thwarted romance. Grace is engaged to a local curate, but is attracted to Hugh, Violet’s brother and head of the local manor. Violet seeks to marry an English aristocrat and Cressida has foresworn marriage, focusing instead on her career. They all grow and change and re-evaluate priorities as the story progresses. THE WEDDING DRESS SEWING CIRCLE is a LibraryReads selection for May with wide appeal to fans of romantic historical fiction and cozy English villages. 

The Peach Rebellion by Wendelin Van Draanen

THE PEACH REBELLION is the first historical novel from the prolific and award-winning author Wendelin Van Draanen who first gave us Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief almost 25 years ago. Van Draanen’s latest work is set in 1947 California and focuses on three high school girls:  Ginny Rose, a self-reliant but very poor transfer from Oklahoma who is working at the local cannery for the summer; Peggy, daughter of hard-working peach farmers and childhood friend of Ginny Rose; and Lisette, more chic and privileged as an only child of the local banker. Ginny Rose has overcome many obstacles and offers a homespun philosophy: “As I reset the tire and pump it full of air, I start thinkin’ about how a tire is like life itself. When it springs a leak, you can moan about the flat, or you can patch it up, pump it full of air again, then get back on and ride.”  Peggy is struggling to figure out friendships, boys, and her place on the farm, saying, “If you don’t become your mother, I won’t become mine. I’ll figure out what I want to do, and I’ll make myself brave enough to go after it.” Over several escapades, the girls eventually combine resources to help Ginny Rose’s family and to teach the adults a few lessons, too. In her author’s note, Van Draanen explains that she hopes readers will “think and talk about why we label and treat people as outsiders, the lingering effects of economic disparity, and the fortifying power of being part of something bigger than oneself.” The girls, while strong and memorable characters, seem young and somewhat naïve, in part reflecting the well-researched historical setting, so this well-written and engaging title will likely appeal to middle school and early high school readers.

Harvest of Empire by Juan Gonzalez

HARVEST OF EMPIRE by Juan Gonzalez is soon to be available in a revised and updated edition for 2022. The first two sections, Las Raíces (Roots) and Las Ramas (Branches), of this text provide a lengthy history of Latinos in America from roughly 1500 through the early 1900s. 

Gonzalez, a professor of Communications and Public Policy at Rutgers University, has focused the majority of his revisions on the final section, La Cosecha (Harvest), which deals with economic, cultural/language, and political forces. He summarizes several main new trends (condensed and very loosely paraphrased as follows):

• Rise of anti-immigrant xenophobia and more racialized prison industrial complex;
• Growth of climate refugees from Central America and the Caribbean;
• Political unrest in Puerto Rico, with nearly 12 percent decline in its population;
• Growing ethnic, racial, and class diversity amongst the Latino migrant population;
• Resurgence of right-wing neoliberal regimes in Latin America;
• A new Chinese presence, particularly with grants and loans for infrastructure projects;
• Contributions to the arts and education from Lin-Manuel Miranda and other Latinx artists.

Although Gonzalez employs a rather scholarly tone, he addresses questions of interest to our students about why (and when) certain groups came, how they did (or did not) assimilate, and reaction to their presence. Gonzalez freely admits that “it has not been easy to separate my head from my heart as I sought to chronicle this story” and his anger, frustration, and biases are evident. Readers, however, will step away with new perspectives and knowledge about the key groups (Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Cubans, Dominicans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Nicaraguans, Columbians, and Panamanians) profiled in HARVEST OF EMPIRE. Accompanied by over seventy pages of notes and index, this text will be a valuable research tool.

Little Souls by Sandra Dallas

LITTLE SOULS by Sandra Dallas is set in Denver in 1918 and tells the story of two sisters, Helen and Lucretia (Lutie). Like so many of Dallas’ strong female characters, they are self-reliant and compassionate, but face heartache and tragedies. Helen is a nurse, dating a doctor, and both battle exhaustion in the face of the raging influenza pandemic. Lutie works in advertising for a local department store; her beau, Peter Howell, joins the army and heads to fight in the war in Europe.  Together, the two sisters have purchased a home and rent the basement apartment to the Streeter family, a married couple with a nearly teenaged daughter, Dorothy. In LITTLE SOULS Dallas returns to favorite motifs – with references to female friendships, quilts and sewing, plus orphans, and spousal abuse. Like many other novels by this best-selling author, there are elements of danger and loss, but hope and resilience ultimately shine through.

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY by Sulari Gentill is an amazing mystery story and one of my favorite reads so far this year. Four strangers seated in the Boston Public Library hear a scream, begin conversing, and strike up an unlikely friendship. Perhaps it’s not that much of a surprise with two being writers: Freddie (Winifred) Kincaid and Cain McLeod.  The other two are students: Marigold Anastas, ever impetuous and emotional and studying psychology, and Whit Metters who is trying to fail law so as to extract himself from the family influence. I could also refer to them as Freddie does in the fictional account they inspire: Handsome Man, Freud Girl and Heroic Chin. It is that novel (a story within a story) and the chapter-by-chapter drafts from Australian author Hannah Tigone which are shared with Hannah’s correspondent, Leo Johnson, which adds to the intrigue and provide an increasingly dark narrative. That all sounds confusing and, yes, it is in a wonderful, twisty, mind-bending way.  My only regret is that the suspense ended too soon and in a rather quick manner. Mystery fans, especially those who enjoyed Magpie Murders (by Anthony Horowitz), The Eighth Detective (by Alex Pavesi) or titles by Ruth Ware, will adore THE WOMAN IN THE LIBRARY. Gentill’s latest was the top LibraryReads pick for June 2022 and received starred reviews from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly. Kirkus called this new book “a sharply drawn fictional hall of mirrors.” Highly recommended.

An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X.R. Pan

AN ARROW TO THE MOON by Emily X.R. Pan (The Astonishing Color of After) is a clever weaving of Chinese folklore with a retelling of Romeo and Juliet. Here, the star-crossed lovers are named Hunter Yee and Luna Chang, divided by their families’ animosity over professional recognition for the academic fathers. Both Hunter and Luna possess extraordinary powers that they (and the reader) do not fully understand. Hunter is capable of unusual feats of marksmanship with a bow and arrow whereas Luna attracts fireflies and seems able to control water and its movement. A prophecy warns: “The darkness will rise from the ground and wrap its fingers around hearts, and in that squeeze the loudest thoughts will be of greed and cruelty and selfishness. That will be the end, unless everything is restored.” The ensuing adventures are told in third person narration, alternating between Hunter and Luna’s view as they explore magic, mystery, and myth. AN ARROW TO THE MOON received starred reviews from School Library Journal (“a first purchase for all high school collections, especially for libraries serving AAPI communities”), plus from Horn Book Magazine and Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.