title: All Four Stars
author: Tara Dairman

publication date: July 15, 2014
publisher: Putnam Juvenile

As a child, I was a bookworm. Now, as an adult bookworm, I sometimes discover books that I wish had been around during my childhood because they are just that amazing.

All Four Stars is one of those books. It has so much that I adored as a child – a fun heroine, adventures in the big city, shenanigans and incredibly delicious pastries. Actually, I kind of still adore all those things now!

The sweet little heroine, Gladys Gatsby, is a foodie and a superb cook – if only her fast-food-loving parents would let her into the kitchen. She read her first cookbook when she was eight and that was the same year she made her first pasta primavera. Circumstances being what they are, Gladys takes daily advantage of a few unsupervised after-school hours to whip up complicated recipes in the kitchen before her parents return home from work and inevitably order dinner from their vast take-out menu collection. At age 11, Gladys has made “142 other recipes from twelve different cookbooks,” all with great success (and without her parents catching on to her culinary skills).

Unfortunately, after a small ‘incident’ in which Glady burns the kitchen drapes with a torch while making creme brulee (to be fair, her parents did come home early and distract her), she is banned from the kitchen and any other food-related hobbies. Poor Gladdy!

Through a series of fun misadventures, Gladys accidentally becomes a food critic for a New York City newspaper and has to scheme her way to the city to eat the luscious pastries at Classy Cakes in order to write her review – without her parents knowledge. On top of all that, can Gladys turn the class “mean girl” into a friend by baking her delicious nut-laden desserts (and really, who doesn’t make friends with baking?).

The book is geared for the Middle School set, but honestly, this is a great read for young food-lovers and young-at-heart food lovers alike. Light-hearted and lovable, All Four Stars is Dairman’s debut book and I have my fingers crossed that I’ll be seeing much more of Gladys Gatsby soon (and on that note, Hooray! A sequel is planned for 2015!). You can learn more about Tara Dairman on her website.

Tara was gracious enough to spend some time answering some questions for my Author Q&A series. You can read my interview with her about All Four Stars here.

A special thanks to Sylvia from A Baked Creation for introducing me to this lovely book and for sharing her Advanced Reading Copy with me!

Click here to purchase All Four Stars from The Book Depository (free worldwide shipping) or Amazon.

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