Susan Heim on Parenting is pleased to be a stop on the book tour for Pie and Other Brilliant Ideas by Karen Pokras Toz!
About the book:
Ballet and baking pies -- these are two of twelve-year-old Georgie Harris’ favorite things. When her parents decide to move closer to her grandmother’s nursing home, Georgie quickly learns the bad news: dance lessons are too expensive in this new town.
Instead, Georgie spends most of her time baking pies to bring to her grandmother at the Willow Lakes Nursing Home. There she meets Eve, who inspires Georgie with stories of having danced with a world famous Russian ballerina many years ago.
As Georgie and Eve’s friendship evolves, their tales intertwine in this feel-good story showing dreams really can come true.
My thoughts:
Pie and Other Brilliant Ideas alternates between two storylines. In the present day, Georgie and her friend Amber attempt to come up with ways to pay for ballet lessons for Georgie. Their first idea is to make glitter shirts to sell to the ladies at Georgie’s grandmother’s nursing home, but the glitter kit turns out to be a lot more difficult to use than the commercials show! Their second idea – to give beauty makeovers to the nursing-home ladies – also ends disastrously and humorously. Finally, they figure out a brilliant way to raise money, which was right in front of them all the time! The other story is told to Georgie by her grandmother’s roommate, Eve. She tells about her days as a ballerina in the Soviet Union, and how she got to dance with the famous Russian ballerina, Paulina Strofsky, who is Georgie’s idol. This story has a surprise ending that I never suspected! I absolutely LOVED both of the stories in this book. They really kept my interest, and I’m certain they’ll entertain middle-grade readers, too. Georgie is very believable as a 12-year-old girl, and her dialog and interactions with others are spot-on for her age group. I highly recommend this book and hope you’ll pick up a copy for the young lady in your life!
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About the author:
Karen Pokras Toz writes middle-grade and adult contemporary fiction. Her books have won several awards, including two Readers’ Favorite Book Awards, First Place in the Children’s Chapter Books category and the Grand Prize overall in the 2012 Purple Dragonfly Book Awards, as well as winning first for two Global E-Book Awards for Pre-Teen Literature, and placing Finalist in the USA Best Book Awards. Her books for children include the Nate Rocks series, Millicent Marie Is Not My Name, and Pie and Other Brilliant Ideas. For adults, she recently published Chasing Invisible. A native of Connecticut, Karen now lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband and three children. For more information, please visit www.karentoz.com.