The Doughnut Fix by Jessie Janowitz (review)

Twelve-year-old amateur baker Tristan "Tris" Levin has just moved from New York to Petersville, New York, a quiet small town without even a single restaurant. To distract himself, Tris throws himself completely into an ambitious project to start a business selling Petersville's famous, long-lost chocolate cream doughnuts. Tris' pursuit of the secret recipe and his Starting Your Own Business for Dummies-guided development are amusing and his initiative is impressive. Behind his business, however, is the never-quite-explained impetus for the family move, with the novel hinting heavily at the sort of adult concerns—money, career, health—twelve-year-olds can sense even if they don't fully understand. Tris' two younger sisters—the brainy shut-in Jeanine and four-year-old Zoe, who is more than a handful for everyone she interacts with—struggle with the move in their own ways, which takes Tris some time to realize but are laid bare for readers in affecting episodes of candid conversation while the kids are stuck in trees or amid pastry-gun mishaps. A heartwarming read that recognizes the growing amount of child foodies, the novel will be supplemented in the bound book by recipes and a kid-friendly cheat sheet for potential entrepreneurs. WJ