Dear Julia - Hardcover

Zemser, Amy Bronwen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060294582 ISBN 13: 9780060294588

Publisher: Greenwillow Books, 2008

Synopsis

Elaine Hamilton has never wanted to be the center of attention. She'd like nothing more than to cook quietly in her kitchen, mastering French cooking with the recipes of the great Julia Child.

So how did she end up with cameras zooming in on her and a crowd cheering her on?

Well, it involves . . .

an eccentric best friend named after a font,

• five lively brothers constantly asking, “What's for dinner?”
• a rotten fig and a weakness,
• a feminist congresswoman mother,
• a yoga-practicing father,
• a chest full of unsent letters,
• and many, many roast ducks.

Delicious. Just delicious.

About this title

About the Author:

Amy Bronwen Zemser is the author of Beyond the Mango Tree, an ALA Booklist Top of the List Editors' Choice and Publishers Weekly Best Book, which the New York Times called "astonishing." She lives in Poughkeepsie, New York, with her partner and their son Raymond.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 7–10—With Julia Child as a role model and a set of the woman's cookbooks on her shelves, Elaine Hamilton has been mastering the art of French cooking since she was eight. Now 16, she seems happy slaving over a hot stove but lacks a social life. Equally friendless Lucida Sans wants to be famous, but her strange name, outrageous costumes, and crazy plans put her in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. A chance meeting between the two develops into a tentative friendship as the girls plot revenge on Lucida's ex-boyfriend. With the help of her quirky family and new friend, Elaine must convince herself that she has what it takes to be a master chef and convince her congresswoman mother that a career in the kitchen won't derail decades of women's liberation. The girls come across as younger than their years, even as they drive and date, but this can be partially explained by their lack of social experience. More frustrating is the deus ex machina appearance of Julia Child, who magically solves Elaine's problems at the crucial moment. Elaine's chaotic family and Lucida's two mothers provide amusement and a solid, if somewhat stereotyped, supporting cast in this lighthearted read.—Cara von Wrangel Kinsey, New York Public Library
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About this edition

• Publisher: Greenwillow Books
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0060294582
• ISBN 13: 9780060294588
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336