Author: Laura Anne Bird

Reviewer: Bibi Belford

Genre: Middle-grade fiction

Length: 268 pages

Date published: September 10, 2024

Publisher: Orange Hat Publishing

Editor: Mary Kole, Good Story Company

In Laura Anne Bird’s stand-alone companion middle-grade novel, Marvelous Jackson, Jack Wilson, a seventh-grader at Evergreen Middle School, must find a positive way to cope with the grief of losing his mom, instead of getting into trouble like he’s been doing for the past four hundred and seventy-two days. If he can’t turn his life around, he faces the option of boarding school. 

Jack struggles at first—without hobbies to energize and fulfill him. He doesn’t hunt or fish like most of the other kids who live in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, and he’s not into sports like his friends Carlos and Pogo, or science club like nerdy Theo. His newly widowed dad is so busy keeping his restaurant running and managing their home he doesn’t have time to help Jack find his way. Thank goodness for Theo, an unlikely friend who comes to his rescue by reintroducing him to baking, something he and his mom used to do together. Once Jackson discovers his passion, he’s up to his elbows in flour and sugar, stirring up time-tested recipes and tasty treats, healing by reconnecting with his mom’s memories. Theo’s family introduces him to The Marvelous Kids Baking Championship, a television show looking for applicants for its new season, and despite being an inexperienced baker with little self-confidence, Jack applies, never imagining he’ll be chosen or that everyone he knows will jump in to support him. 

Bird, the honorable mention winner of the 2022 Tofte/Wright Children’s Book Award for Crossing the Pressure Line, mixes adventure and excitement with a few teaspoons of wisdom in her new book about the power of friendship. Everything is baked together with humor and love to create a character-driven tale kids will love. The setting is peppered with beloved Northwoods references, and Jackson’s friends and family are nuanced and diverse—some salty, most sweet. Bird includes some typical Wisconsin cuisine at Jackson’s dad’s restaurant—braunschweiger, a nuggie competition, and wild game. Three of Jackson’s recipes are at the back of the book, and maybe more will be on the author’s website, fingers crossed. This reviewer made the Whimsydiddles to the delight of her grandchildren.