By Tara Dairman
Gladys Gatsby is only twelve years old but she loves to
cook! She enjoys fine foods from around
the world, and shops at a gourmet grocery store. Gladys’s parents are just the opposite. Much to Gladys’s dismay, they eat take out
every night and never turn on the stove – they only use the microwave. In fact, they don’t know even know about all
the cooking Gladys does on her own.
One night when Gladys is alone, she gets out her dad’s
blowtorch to put the finishing touches on her Crème Brulee. Unfortunately, she
sets the kitchen curtains on fire. By
some miracle, she doesn’t burn the house down, but her parents punish her with
strict rules which include no more
cooking and nothing more to do with food.
Gladys is devastated.
Soon after, she enters an essay contest in which she
details her future life as a food critic.
Through a series of misunderstandings, she is then offered a job as a
freelance food critic at the New York Standard newspaper. Her assignment is to review Classy Cakes, a
dessert restaurant in New York City.
She desperately wants to write this review. But how can a twelve-year-old get herself to
a restaurant in New York without her parents finding out? Gladys then embarks on a series of crazy
schemes to get herself published, and hopefully work her way back into her
parents’ good graces.
All
Four Stars is an entertaining, funny book about following
your dreams no matter what others might say.
Highly
recommended!
