Award-winning Children's Book Author
Age Range: 8 – 12 years
Grade Level: 3 – 7
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Yellow Jacket/Little Bee Books (June 11, 2019)
ISBN-10: 1499808887
ISBN-13: 978-1499808889
Eleven-year-old Mimi Mackson dreams of winning a local baking contest to finally prove she’s not the least talented member of her large Indian-American family. Plus, it’ll start her on the path to becoming a celebrity chef like her culinary idol, Puffy Fay. But when Mimi’s dad returns from a business trip, he’s mysteriously lost his highly-honed sense of taste. Without his help, Mimi will never be able to bake something impressive enough to propel her to gastronomic fame.
Drawn into the woods behind her house by a strangely familiar song, Mimi meets Vik, a boy who brings her to parts of the forest she’s never seen. Who knew there were banyan trees and wild boars in Massachusetts? Together they discover exotic ingredients and bake them into delectable and enchanting treats.
But as her dad acts stranger every day, and her siblings’ romantic entanglements cause trouble in their town, Mimi begins to wonder whether the ingredients she and Vik found are somehow the cause of it all. She needs to use her skills, deductive and epicurean, to uncover what’s happened. In the process, she learns that in life, as in baking, not everything is sweet…
Squabbling sisters, rhyming waitresses, and culinary saboteurs mix up a recipe for mayhem in this Indian-American mashup of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and competitive baking.
Praise for Midsummer's Mayhem
Enchantment reigns, yet the author’s exploration of family, friendship, and self-esteem are firmly grounded in reality.
Praise for Midsummer’s Mayhem
Laugh-out-loud funny one moment and mouth-wateringly delicious the next, Midsummer’s Mayhem is an utter pleasure to consume from the very first page! LaRocca’s debut novel entices and bewitches—I dare you not to fall under its spell.
Praise for Midsummer's Mayhem
I’m hungry for all the treats in this story and for more books from Rajani LaRocca. Mimi is a kind and inquisitive girl that you instinctively root for, and her struggles with failure really resonated with me. This play on Shakespeare with a culinary twist is absolutely delightful and, dare I say it, scrumptious. More, more, more!
Praise for Midsummer's Mayhem
An absolute delight—LaRocca’s delectable debut is whimsical, frothy, and so much fun. An inventive take on a classic comedy, Midsummer’s Mayhem is a sweetly-told tale of family, friendship, and following your passion. This is a book for the dreamers and doers alike; effervescent, full of heart, and ultimately joyful.
Praise for Midsummer's Mayhem
What a wonderful, intriguing, and magical book. And wow, did it ever get my tastebuds going! Each time I picked it up, I felt the urge to head to my kitchen. . . . What I loved most was the smartness of it. It never once doubted its young readers.
Praise for Midsummer’s Mayhem
Taking its inspiration from one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies, Midsummer’s Mayhem is a sweet and fun story about mistaken identity, bumpy romance, and the everyday magic of baking.
Praise for Midsummer's Mayhem
Honeysuckle sweet with a pinch of mayhem and a fairy twist! You’ll only want to put this book down in order to eat an entire plate of cookies. Shakespeare and baking — it’s the book combo dreams are made of.
Praise for Midsummer's Mayhem
The realistic characters and complex family dynamics augment the tightly knit plot, and the mouthwatering descriptions of food are guaranteed to make readers hungry. . .A delectable treat for food and literary connoisseurs alike.
Praise for Midsummer’s Mayhem
Midsummer’s Mayhem is delightful confection of a family story full of heart, magic, and a baking championship with mysteriously high stakes! LaRocca takes Shakespeare’s almost throwaway reference from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and reclaims it, by centering a multiracial Indian-American family in her tale. Mimi’s pluck, gentle courage, and knack for combining flavors will capture reader’s hearts, imaginations, and undoubtedly, taste buds!
Praise for Midsummer’s Mayhem
Midsummer’s Mayhem is an enchantment of a novel, bursting with magic, mystery, and mouth-watering baked goods. Readers who have their own baking-show dreams will be cheering for Mimi until the very last page.
Praise for Midsummer's Mayhem
What a fun, delicious read! Mimi bakes scrumptious goodies to express her heart, but is she good enough to win the While Away baking prize and an opportunity to work with her favorite chef? And can she figure out why her family is acting so strangely?
Praise for Midsummer's Mayhem
Absolutely scrumptious! I fell in love with this book and devoured it in one day. LaRocca crafts a spell of tricky fairies, lovable mortals, and heartfelt magic. Mimi is determined, resourceful, and unfailingly kind. Perfect for aspiring bakers, younger siblings, or anyone with a passion.
Praise for Midsummer's Mayhem
This delightful and delicious spin on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream flows beautifully into a sensitive and thoughtful novel that addresses family dynamics and self-confidence alongside mouth-watering descriptions of food. Readers will relate to Mimi’s attempts to stand out and find her place and will be thrilled by the magical baking.
Praise for Midsummer's Mayhem
I savored every minute of this romp. I loved Mimi and her drive to be less invisible in her big family full of go-getters. The South Indian foods, well-defined in the glossary, added another layer of flavor to the story. The baking contest, reminiscent of The Great British Baking Show, was full of surprises, and the hints of magic and allusions to AMidsummer Night’s Dream were perfect. The included recipes are the icing on the cake.
Praise for Midsummer's Mayhem
Midsummer’s Mayhem has all the ingredients for a delightful read: developed characters, delectable dessert descriptions, and a dash of magic. Toss with Shakespeare and sprinkle in realistic family conflicts, and LaRocca has created a poignant story of friendship that will warm the hearts of readers.
Praise for Midsummer's Mayhem
An entertaining and epicurean retelling of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. . . . Strikes a perfect balance between the pleasant and the melancholy, as sweet and savory as one of Mimi’s confections.
Praise for Midsummer's Mayhem
This riff on A Midsummer Night’s Dream is heartfelt and ridiculously fun. Mimi, sweet as sugar with a heart of gold, creates as many problems as she solves, but readers will be cheering for her and her family the whole way.
Download a Midsummer’s Mayhem Baking Event Kit to plan and present a fun activity – for libraries, book clubs and booksellers!
Download the Midsummer’s Mayhem Teaching and Discussion Guide today for fun activities and thought-provoking questions!
Age Range: 8 – 12 years
Grade Level: 3 – 7
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Roca Editorial
ISBN-10: 8417805982
ISBN-13: 978-8417805982
¿Podrá Mimi deshacer el alboroto causado por sus dulces horneados en esta reinterpretación de fantasía contemporánea de El sueño de una noche de verano?
Mejor novela middle grade del 2019 para Kirkus.
Mejor novela middle grade del 2019 para las librerías independientes de EE.UU.
Mimi, una chica de once años, sueña con ganar el concurso de pastelería en el que el juez es nada menos que su gran ídolo, un chef de reconocido prestigio. Pero Mimi pierde a su mejor colaborador cuando su padre regresa de un viaje de negocios y misteriosamente es incapaz de distinguir entre sabores deliciosos y desagradables. Un día Mimi decide seguir a través del bosque una extraña música que a la vez le resulta familiar; ahí conoce a un chico de ojos dorados, y juntos cocinan utilizando ingredientes exóticos del mismo bosque. De pronto, todos los que le rodean comienzan a actuar como si estuvieran locos de remate.
Hermanas que le riñen, camareras que hablan en rima y saboteadores culinarios se mezclan en una receta llena de alborotos en esta divertida noche de un sueño de verano y pasteles.