Lights, Camera, Cook! (Next Best Junior Chef #1)

Gr 2-5--Food-infused fiction that combines celebrity chefs, reality TV, and a focus on healthy eating. This first installment in an anticipated series is about a lively televised cooking competition featuring four talented tweens: energetic Tate, charming Rae, worldly Caroline, and hypercompetitive Oliver. Through numerous interviews, taste tests, and chopping challenges, readers get to know each character. The black-and-white illustrations complement the story and add humor. There is a bonus in the back matter that includes techniques for aspiring young chefs. VERDICT A mouthwatering read for all foodies. Be sure to save room for the next two volumes.--Paula Huddy, The Blake School-Highcroft Campus, Wayzata, MN

Four food-savvy kids face off in the first round of a TV cooking show in this snappy launch title in the Next Best Junior Chef series. Eleven-year-old Caroline is coolly confident, army kid Tate has energy to spare, nervous Rae faints when she first takes the stage, and brazen Oliver has "two missions: to win and look good on TV." Fans of Top Chef Junior and other TV cooking competitions will be right at home with the trappings Harper liberally draws on: celebrity chefs' demanding yet supportive demeanors, contestants' off- and on-camera anxieties, and meticulous descriptions of their gastronomic concoctions. Blard-Quintard's chic b&w spot illustrations capture the children's emotional ups and downs as they wrestle with surprise ingredients, plan their dream food trucks, and try to negotiate partnered challenges. It's an entertaining behind-the-scenes look at ambitious foodie kids doing what they do best; readers should be eager to discover who will be forced to hang up their aprons in the next book. Ages 7-10. Author's agent: Amy Rennert, Amy Rennert Agency. (July)