Let’s Get Delicious in Middle Grade, a guest post by Alechia Dow

I’d never set out to write middle grade fiction; I wasn’t sure I had the right voice or skills. Back in my Youth Service librarian days, my work involved reading a ton of it though. It wasn’t a struggle––I inhaled those books. There’s something so light and bright about stories for 8-12 year-olds. They have an incredible amount of depth while focusing on sometimes the smallest of things. They had humor and hope, heart and honesty. Which is exactly why I was so nervous to write for that age group. What possibly could I do here that hasn’t been done by better authors? These stories aren’t just important for instilling a lifelong love of literacy, they are windows in which kids can view new worlds and develop compassion through characters they’d never seen before. No, I said. It’s too risky. I don’t want to be the reason a kid doesn’t fall in love with reading! Can you tell I’m a bit dramatic?

But then I wrote Just a Pinch of Magic. A lot of people, from my agent to my editor, pushed me through my reluctance and told me I could do it. And so I did. I tapped into my childhood. My love of Halloween, apples, community, baking, my ambitions, and Blackness in a predominately white town. I remember feeling like I didn’t belong anywhere with my big head of curls and not really knowing what I was good at, so Kal feels the same. I remember feeling like the only person looking out for me was myself which made me stand taller and be a little rougher around the edges, so Wini feels the same. I had anxiety, so does Kal. I feel more myself in a kitchen than anywhere else, so does Wini. This story carries a huge piece of my heart within its pages. Not just my childhood, but my love of food––there’s a reason why I went to culinary school before library school––and fall. Leaves, autumn, chilly days that require a soft cardigan and a steaming mug of hot cocoa. This book has it all!

And that’s what I want to share with you all today. My favorite foodie middle grades that are warm, funny, and if you pay close attention, you can catch glimpses of the author and their heart in the pages.

The Takeout by Tracy Badua

I can’t start this list without my friend and author extraordinaire; Tracy Badua. You see glimpses of delicious food in her debut, FREDDIE VS THE FAMILY CURSE, but it’s with THE TAKEOUT where you have a feast of a time! The premise alone means it’s going to be yummy: “When a celebrity chef’s new restaurant threatens Mila’s family’s food truck, she plans to expose them for the recipe thieves they are — even if that means dabbling in the Filipino folk magic she’s tried to avoid.” But let me tell you, Tracy has a blast here creating fusion dishes you may have never heard of—yet now you want in your life as soon as possible. The characters and descriptions leap off the page. It’s as heartfelt as it is sweet (and sometimes) savory. Throw in a pet mouse, magic, and themes of fitting in where you sometimes can’t help sticking out, and this makes for a book that’ll warm even the most reluctant readers.

Pizza My Heart by Rhiannon Richardson

This story combines two of my favorite things: pizza and a romantic comedy! Rhiannon brings us on an emotional journey that readers will relate to and appreciate. What it means to go from the city kid to the new kid in town, leaving your friends behind and finding out who you are somewhere different. Crushes, pizza… It’s the perfect slice of life and with a fast pace, this story is a treat!

A Taste of Magic by J. Elle

Look, if you tell me there’s a story involving a young Black girl finding out she’s a witch and to keep her new witch school up and running, she has to win a baking competition, I will immediately run to the store to buy it. This book is perfection. It’s got so much heart, so much food, and so much magic! What it does especially well is showing how important it is to have community and how far you’ll go to save it. A Taste of Magic is as mouth-watering with food descriptions as it is meaningful with the relationships that shape Kyana’s life. Also, there are recipes in the back of the book!

From the Desk of Zoe Washington by Janae Marks

If you haven’t read this book yet, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? From the Desk of Zoe Washington is part mystery, part foodie, part a tale about the inequality in the criminal justice system that you haven’t really been able to read about in a middle grade book. The true feat: Janae Marks writes this deftly with nuance and balances the themes in such a way that it resonates with young readers across all demographics. How she does this, I’m convinced, is magic. The food and testing recipes in between tracking down witnesses make this story impossible to put down, and I have to say, every kid I know who has read it––including my own––says it’s one of the best books they’ve ever read. My child also says Janae Marks is her second favorite author (after me, ha!). I cannot recommend enough.

Bee Bakshi and the Gingerbread Sisters by Emi Pinto

In Emi Pinto’s spooky debut and twist on Hansel & Gretel, you get a story about self-acceptance and love, fitting in (or not!), learning to accept your family’s culture—-and honestly every instance of Bee’s mother cooking made me hungry. It has ghost hunting mystery, some chills and thrills, and the perfect amount of growth that’ll resonate with young readers who aren’t sure who they are just yet and need to know that this is OKAY!!

The Cookie Crumbles by Tracy Badua and me (Alechia Dow)!

Have you ever thought: “You know what a delicious cookie competition needs? An attempted murder mystery!” Well, we have a book for you. Tracy and I wrote The Cookie Crumbles, which can best be compared to Great British Bake Off meets Knives Out, with twists, turns, and a dollop of some the best cookies words can conjure. We can’t wait to share it with you on June 11, 2024 through Quill Tree—but you can preorder now.  Also, check out the cover before everyone else! Designed by Andrea Vandergrift and beautiful artwork by Diobelle Cerna!

Lastly, please feel free to check out my own middle grade debut, Just a Pinch of Magic! It’s a spooky foodie fantasy about friendship, baking, community, and more than just a pinch of wicked & wonderful magic. Wink wink!

Thanks for having me, Teen Librarian Toolbox!! You all are the best! 

Meet the author

Alechia Dow is a former pastry chef, librarian, and award-winning author of several critically acclaimed stories: The Sound of Stars, The Kindred, A Song of Salvation, Just a Pinch of Magic, Until the Clock Strikes Midnight, The Cookie Crumbles and Their Just Desserts which she co-authored with Tracy Badua. When not writing, you can find her having epic dance parties with her family, baking, reading, and exploring her local food scene.

About Just a Pinch of Magic

Just a Pinch of Magic, Alechia Dow’s middle-grade debut, is as warm and sweet as a cinnamon bun, bursting with magic and sure to please the pickiest readers.

Wini’s family of enchanters runs a little bakery, but with the prices of magical ingredients skyrocketing, they’re going under. Desperate to save her family’s business, Wini takes a risk by casting a (sort of illegal) spell that would allow them to gather their own supply of their most needed magical ingredient: Love. But the spell doesn’t work. And Wini soon discovers that it didn’t just not work, it backfired. Badly. Now the whole town is in danger, and the Enchantment Agency is sniffing around for whoever cast the wayward spell.

It’s just been Kal and her dad for as long as she can remember. They’ve weathered everything together, including Kal’s mental health struggles. But just as they’re about to move to a new town for a fresh start, Kal’s grandfather—who mysteriously vanished years ago—has suddenly reentered their lives with a desire to make amends. He joins them in opening their bookstore in the new town, but Kal can’t help but wonder if he has anything to do with the whispers around her new home about wicked magic. And it’s not just the whispers of the magical books in their shop.

When Wini and Kal cross paths—both hoping for the chance to finally make a friend without worrying about their family histories following them—the girls bond over being fellow outcasts. Together they search for the solution to fixing the magic gone awry in their beloved town—and just maybe get their dads to go out on a date.

Includes five recipes!

ISBN-13: 9781250829115
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Publication date: 10/10/2023
Age Range: 8 – 12 Years

Filed under: Guest Post