The Crepe Makers' Bond Book

Ariel, Mattie, and Nicki have been best friends for a long time. It's the last year of middle school, and the girls are horrified when they find out that Mattie's mom is moving the family away. The girls devise a plan: Mattie will move in with Ariel's family for the rest of the school year. Ariel is sure this will make them closer than ever, but the opposite happens when everything that Mattie does drives her crazy. The two girls grow further apart, and their entire friendship is threatened.

Solidly falling into the middle-grade reading level, Crabtree's latest book is best-suited for chefs-in-training. Recipes mentioned or made in the novel bookend each chapter, each step broken down for novice-to-intermediate-level cooks to follow. Some of the recipes look pretty good, and Crabtree does a decent enough job of making each recipe fit the theme of the chapter.

However, the story itself is problematic. The Crepe Maker's Bond is actually a companion novel to Crabtree's Discovering Pig Magic, which is told from Mattie's perspective. If the clunky (and a little insulting) exposition near the end of this book is any indication, there will be a third novel featuring the viewpoint of Nicki. The problem is that this isn't made clear enough anywhere on the book, and instead of providing a summary of what happened to the three best friends in the first novel, narrator Ariel tells the reader to read the first book. The breach of the fourth wall isn't necessarily a cardinal sin in my eyes, but it was kind of irritating.

In addition to not having a sense for characters who were established in the previous book, the pacing of this book is unbelievably slow. The first three-quarters of the novel see very little rising action. The rush to create a climax and denouement is awkward and more than a little jarring. In fact, the climax and resolution are told almost entirely through exposition: the reader isn't privy to much firsthand information. While the concept of the novel is promising enough-exploring the complexities of friendship and how that can change-it isn't fully explored and is somewhat disappointing in its execution.

Of course, there was also the issue of Ariel herself. She was supposed to be a passionate cook and baker, but I never felt even a spark of interest from her when it came to cooking. Although much of her time was spent in the kitchen preparing meals for her family and friends, there didn't seem to be any genuine enjoyment in it for her. To have that lacking in a book about a girl who loves to cook? Seems like quite an oversight.

Recommended (with reservations) for middle-grade readers who have a genuine interest in cooking. The vocabulary is pretty basic, which means it might work for reluctant or struggling readers, but only if they don't mind a glacially slow plot.

The Crepe Makers' Bond by Julie Crabtree. Milkweed Editions: 2010. Electronic galley accepted for review via NetGalley.