I didn't love this quite as much as Cloud and Wallfish, but I really loved that book. It would have taken a lot to come close.

Gusta has been sent to live with her grandmother in rural Maine while her father is on the run and her mother works to earn enough money to maybe take her back. Her father is German but also a union organizer, two things that aren't great to be in the early 1940s. Gusta learns a lot about herself, her family and life in this coming of age tale.

The Maine setting felt true to me, which is fantastic to find in a book. Sometimes books get Maine wrong, and as a native, I am very picky. I also grew up about 40 minutes from where this book is set, which is a fun connection. I also loved how vivid Nesbet made the other characters. The dairy wars were one of my favorite parts. I also appreciated Gusta getting glasses, and what that was like.

Readers will love learning about Gusta and Maine in the early days of WWII.

Thank you Kirsten Cappy and Curious City for the ARC.

This book is really cute. I laughed out loud at a few parts. It reminded me of families I know. I also thought the way a kid might feel is they moved from New York City to a small town. Now I want to cook desserts.

Tristan is moving and he can't start school right away, so he needs a project. Since he loves food, and is great at baking, he decides to bring back a local general store's doughnuts. Along the way he and his siblings learn to love their new town.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Super cute. If you like cooking shows, especially Chopped or Top Chef, this is for you.

I didn't like this as much as 'The False Prince' series. Too roller-coastery, too many narrow escapes for me. I still turned the pages fast. It wasn't bad, just not as good as I hoped.

It's not going to replace 'A Wrinkle in Time' as my favorite children's book, but it was still really good. I'm glad I heard about it in 'The Doughnut Fix' so that I was able to read it.

This series is super cute and I hope we get others in the universe. Space Chopped with Romance!

Fun, but not as good as others of this type.

I enjoyed this one a lot more than I thought I would. I have never been that into the Kennedy Assassination and the conspiracy theories, nor am I usually into King's work, as I'm not into horror. I learned more about the movements of Lee Harvey Oswald in this book than I can remember from anything else (assuming much of it is correct). Mostly what I enjoyed out of this book was the look at life in the late 1950s from the eyes of the present. I wish it talked a little bit more about race relations. I wondered if this world would really be as white as it seemed. Still, for an 849 page book, the pages were turning.

It wasn't my favorite, but I think I missed the moral of letting kids be themselves. I thought I would get a funny book about not wearing pants, but it's really more about being who you are. I think the humor is a bit more subtle than what I was expecting. It will be interesting to see how kids react to this one.