My Chocolate Year: A Novel with 12 Recipes

by Charlotte Herman, LeUyen Pham (Illustrator)

Dorrie Meyers is starting fifth grade, the year of the Sweet Semester baking and essay contest at school. Dorrie is determined to win, but her cakes fall flat, her cookies look like pancakes, and she learns the hard way that chocolate-covered gum is NOT a good idea. Then Dorrie meets her cousin Victor for the first time. Victor is an immigrant from Europe, and he is about to teach Dorrie that a loving family and a safe homeland are the sweetest things of all. With some top-secret tips from Victor's family's bakery and a big slice of confidence, Dorrie Meyers might just have the yummiest year of her life.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Childrens, Juvenile, Historical, Realistic Fiction, World War II, Cooking

176 pages, Hardcover

First published February 19, 2008

About the author

Charlotte Herman is the author of many beloved books for children, including the acclaimed Millie Cooper series and The House on Walenska Street. Like Dorrie, Charlotte possesses a lifelong love of family, chocolate malteds, and hot fudge sundaes. She makes her home outside of Chicago.

Reviews

[Alex Baugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was just no way a chocoholic such a myself could pass on reading a book called My Chocolate Year. And I am glad I did.

It is September 1945, the war is over and Dorrie Meyers is starting fifth grade. And the best part is that her best friend Sunny Shapiro is in her class and their teacher is the very popular Miss Fitzgerald. Popular because each year, Miss Fitzgerald has a Sweet Semester, in which each student thinks up a dessert to make, writes an essay about it and in January they all bring in their entries and a prize goes out to one winner dessert and one winning essay.

Dorrie loves chocolate passionately and is very excited about Sweet Semester, except for one problem - she has no idea how to make anything, let alone a prize winning dessert. And this year is a special Sweet Semester because not only will family members be invited, but the winners will also get their pictures in the Chicago Daily News. In addition, since there are now so many orphans in Europe as a result of the war, the class will has a donation jar set up to collect money to send to a charity which cares for the orphans.

The subject of orphans soon hits home for Dorrie. Her grandparents had all migrated to America, but there were still relatives who had remained in Lithuania. No one knew what happened to them after war. Since they were Jewish the worst was feared and Dorrie's mother has been making inquires to find them. Then, one November morning, good news arrives. Victor Dubin, son of Dorrie's Aunt Mina and Uncle Joseph and grandson of Dorrie's Bubbie, was found living in a Displaced Persons camp. No sooner found, than arrangements begin to be made to bring Victor to America. Sadly, no other family members survived.

Victor, now an orphan, and orphan jar in school get Dorrie to thinking about the Margaret O'Brien and the movie Journey for Margaret, about a young girl orphaned during the London Blitz. How, Dorrie wonders, did she play such a convincing orphan? So she writes a letter to the actress to ask.

Meanwhile, Dorrie and Sunny experiment with different possibilities for Sweet Semester. The first idea, Chocolate Covered Gum, dissolves into a chocolaty mess. Their chocolate covered nuts and raisins clusters taste delicious, but was that all chocolate in them? Oh, and when you add flour to brownies using the electric mixer, it is much easier if you turn the mixer off.

It is really beginning to look like Dorrie isn't going to win that Sweet Semester competition despite the fact that both her mother and Buddie are excellent bakers. She just doesn't seem to have a natural instinct for baking. She really needs a miracle...could that miracle come in the form of both real and movie orphans?

This is a lovely story about the strength and importance of family. It is told in Dorrie's voice and even though it is not written as a diary, it reads like on. The book follows the year though all the Jewish holidays, starting with Rosh Hashanah and Dorrie explains the story and Jewish customs for celebrating each holiday for the benefit of readers who may not be familiar with them. She also talks about the war and it's effect on her family, and when Victor comes, we hear his story in detail, but not so much detail that it would be too much for the targeted age of intended readers. This is a book, after all, that is written for kids who are beginning to learn about the Holocaust.

Now, the 12 recipes. Not all are real recipes, but some are and they are made from scratch. My 10 year old budding chef liked that idea, since she is a cooking purist. We actually make Dorrie's Sweet Semester entry, which was so good that when I went to take a picture, they were all gone. Lesson learned - don't leave good tasting stuff unattended with kids in the house and without telling them hands off.

This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was purchased for my personal library

This book was originally reviewed on The Children's War

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book!

[QNPoohBear · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's fall 1945 and Dorrie Meyers is really glad to be starting 5th grade. Unusual - true- but Dorrie's teacher in 5A is super nice AND she hosts a "Sweet Semester" party at the end of the semester. Everyone brings in a homemade sweet treat to share and writes an essay on why they chose that treat. This year the winner gets their picture and a mention in the newspaper! Dorrie knows she can win if she comes up with the perfect dessert-but what to make? All Dorrie's culinary experiences thus far have been disasters. Her best friend Sunny is supportive but also not much of a cook. As the months pass, the pressure is on. Dorrie's mother and her grandmother, Bubbie, are fantastic cooks, but don't have much time to help. They're busy with holiday preparations and Bridge and worrying about family back in Europe. Can Dorrie win the contest without their help? When she learns what her family is really worried about, suddenly the contest doesn't feel so important.

I picked this up thinking it would be a light, contemporary read I could share with my nieces. At the very least I knew I would like the recipes, because like Dorrie I am a chocoholic. I could not have been more wrong. This story takes place in the school year following the end of World War II. Dorrie's family is Jewish. Do you see where this is going? I could not put the book down until I learned what happened to Viktor and his family. The Holocaust is handled in a realistic, age-appropriate manner. Even so, I wouldn't recommend this for younger children.

The recipes are great and sound easy, for the most part. Bubbie's Chocolate Torte sounds a bit tricky and of course, don't be like Dorrie and pay attention to your ingredients and your oven!

[Kennedy]

this was a really good book and has some really good recipes in it!!!!

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

First sentence: "Fifth grade with Miss Fitzgerald is going to be the best grade ever!" I said to my friend Sunny Shapiro as I tried balancing myself along the curb.

Premise/plot: Dorrie Meyers stars in this lovely coming-of-age novel set during the 1945/46 school year in Chicago, Illinois. The war has ended, but its effects are far from over: especially for this Jewish American family.

Dorrie hears or overhears much. Her family is concerned about their relatives in Europe. Did they survive the war? Were they among those murdered by the Nazis? Not knowing weighs on the family. Dorrie is just getting to the age where she's thinking beyond herself to others. But much of her thinking is consumed with the SWEET SEMESTER. Mrs. Fitzgerald, a fifth grade teacher, is known for putting on THE SWEET SEMESTER, a celebration of their time spent together. Each student brings ONE DESSERT that they prepared all by themselves. An essay is also involved. A 'best' dessert and 'best' essay will be recognized...

My thoughts: I enjoyed this historical middle grade novel! I did. It follows the whole school year. It contains plenty of family scenes and school scenes. I loved the characters. I loved the story. I would definitely recommend this one.

As far as age appropriateness--that depends on the child. Readers learn through the dialogue of the characters the fate of some of the extended family. To the overly sensitive child who has never learned anything at all about the Holocaust, it may come as a bit of a shock. It is not melodramatic or manipulative, in my opinion. The fate of those relatives is not the one and only point of the novel.

You certainly can't please everyone. As I'm scrolling through the reviews on GoodReads I'm struck by two camps: HOW DARE A BOOK ABOUT CUPCAKES TALK ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST vs. HOW DARE A BOOK ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST TRIVIALIZE IT BY TALKING SO MUCH ABOUT CHOCOLATE. Life is complex. A girl can both LOVE, LOVE, LOVE desserts and spending time with her family and friends and listening to her most favorite radio programs AND be concerned about her extended family.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This historical novel has Dorrie planning a winning recipe and essay for a school contest, while living life in the late 40's and gradually realizing that her family is waiting for news of their Jewish family's missing relatives in Europe. This was a charming approach, and I think some kids (cooks) would love it. Some of the recipes are more successful than others (some are disasters!): there's a flourless chocolate cake recipe I want to try.

The author does an excellent job of integrating the lighter aspects of Dorrie's everyday family life--going to the movies, trying out recipes, wondering why the adults don't realize the kids now understand Yiddish, planning for a wedding-- with the history and serious issues without going into gruesome detail--even more removed than Snow Treasure or Number the Stars.

A small quibble is that we never hear how to make the winning Superman cookies, or her friend's s'more recipe. And I think that having the kids plan the Sweet Semester for months, and then stretching it to ANOTHER semester, is sort of dumb on the teacher's part--leading to either boredom or more stress and worry.

Charming illustrations and a wave of interest in cooking, from some kids' reality cooking shows, should boost the popularity of this title.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Herman, Charlotte My Chocolate Year, illustrated by LeUyen Pham. 163 pgs. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. Language-G; Sexual Content-G; Violence-G;

Dorrie has just entered the fifth grade where her teacher is having a baking and essay contest. When her cousin Victor comes to America for the first time, he shows her how precious her family and a free country are, while teaching her a few tricks from his family's bakery.

Because this book is set in 1945 and Dorrie's family is Jewish, you get a lot of history about the Holocaust. It gave just the right amount of history while having fun and hearing about all of the desserts she makes. There are even recipes for a lot of the things they make in the story. It is perfect for any elementary school library.

EL-ESSENTIAL Student Reviewer-KD
http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2008/...

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

05/23/19 interesting perspective of basically the most pop culturized war. Sort of cringey because I can definitely see myself as a child talking like this even though the book is set in the 40s... I remember this book specifically as one of my favorites back then so I’m glad I reread it especially now after I’ve done a bunch of WWII/Holocaust related “research”

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story about a girl in 1940s Chicago.

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Marie Robinson for TeensReadToo.com

What a gem of a book! MY CHOCOLATE YEAR by Charlotte Herman starts out as a sweet story about 10-year-old Dorrie, who is a fifth-grader in Chicago just after the end of World War II. Dorrie is excited about the annual “Sweet Semester” contest run by her teacher. Every student is to plan a special dessert, which they will bring in to class at the end of the semester for a contest. The students sample each other's desserts and vote on the best one. They also write an essay explaining their choice of dessert, and their teacher judges the best essay.

Dorrie has been looking forward to her chance at winning Sweet Semester since her older brother, Artie, participated when he was in fifth grade. She is determined to win, and the book is interspersed with her attempts at various concoctions. It even includes actual recipes for some of the desserts, including Peppermint Chocolate Sticks and a scrumptious-sounding Chocolate Nut Torte.

While Dorrie is focused on the contest and on finding that perfect recipe, her family is adjusting to post-war life. They are Russian Jews who managed to escape the Holocaust, but not all of their relatives were so lucky. It sounds like a surprisingly sad topic to combine with the lightweight feel of the dessert contest, but author Herman executes this integration flawlessly.

In fact, her inclusion of the cultural elements of post-World War II Chicago make reading this book educational without ever feeling like it. For instance, I had no idea that there used to be “silver” pennies, or that chocolate chip cookies were invented by a woman named Ruth Wakefield, or that sugar was rationed.

It also makes perfect sense to show this time and place in American life through the eyes of a fifth-grader, and of course she is more focused on her big contest at school than with the letters her parents receive from relatives overseas. Dorrie does have a big heart, though, and it is that heart and conscience that guides her to what she eventually chooses as her
entry for Sweet Semester.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was drawn to this book because it has CHOCOLATE in the title and on the cover. How can I resist that? At first it just seemed like an innocent, sweet story (no pun intended) about a Jewish girl, in fifth grade, living in Chicago right after WWII. The adults in the family discuss missing relatives in Europe while Dorrie looks forward to the end of the school year when she must bring in a dessert for a competition called "Sweet Semester." I particularly enjoyed the end of the book when Victor, a 16-year-old relative, is brought to America to live with Dorrie and her family. He is the only one of his family that survived WWII in Germany. There are enough details for children to understand but never gets overhanded or heavy. The ending was very moving, and brought tears to my eyes. It was a beautiful, surprising little slice of life, a glimpse at a Jewish family in the 1940's. I would read this or recommend this to children who are studying WWII. Anyone who is Jewish would also particularly enjoy it, though you do not have to be Jewish to appreciate it. I liked that recipes are included throughout the book. I also appreciated the Author's Note at the back of the book that provides more insight into life during this time.

[Charlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dorrie believes she has a few months to prepare for "Sweet Semester," an event in her classroom in which everyone prepares a food and writes an essay to accompany it. Dorrie is sure she is a klutz as a cook so she begins to think about her selection as soon as her teacher makes the announcement. The timeline changes when her teacher announces that, instead of January, the contest will be at the end of June. So Dorrie has the entire school year to think about her recipe as she eats the wonderful dishes the good cooks in her family prepare.

First, Dorrie knows it has to be chocolate, so that limits her search. But chocolate is a favorite of many, so she has several ideas from which to choose and the recipe for each of them is included in the book.

This book is a sweet book with a host of references to life in America during War World II. The loss of relatives in the Holocaust is presented realistically without going into great detail. The focus of the story is the love of an extended Jewish family, sharing one another's joys and problems.

[Gwen the Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very sweet story of a Jewish family living in Chicago just after WWII. The adults in the family are very worried because they haven't had word from their relatives in Europe and don't know where they are or if they have survived the Nazis. Dorrie, the fifth grade protagonist, is excited because this year her class is doing Sweet Semester where they each make a delicious dessert and write an essay about it. The winner gets to be in the newspaper!

What I like about this book is that it sets a family story with the kinds of changes that normally happen: uncle loses job, aunt is getting married, girl worried about school; and sets it in the context of the war. When cousin Victor comes from Europe to live with the family after being in a concentration camp, the realities of war are described, but not as the center of the story.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dorrie is excitedly beginning 5th grade at the end of World War II, with a teacher who always holds a dessert contest at the end of the semester. The book alternates between Dorrie's kitchen disasters (with recipes included), and her family's concern for their relatives in Europe who they haven't heard from since early in the war. When they learn that one young cousin has survived, they work to bring him to the United States, and Dorrie learns to pay attention to the wider world. Somehow, her naivete about the war, her family's opportunity to travel from Chicago to New York during rationing, etc. don't ring true.

[Holly · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book was okay, but the cover was deceptive. My third grader picked this up at the library because of the appealing title and cover. The front material and back cover copy made me think it was a story about a baking contest. Only when I read the book did I find that the story is set during World War II, and that many members of the narrator's extended family died in concentration camps. I thought the subject matter was handled as well as could be, but wasn't happy that my eight-year old read about Nazi Germany in a book that looked like beach reading. To be fair, she says that she liked the book, but it took her over a month to finish the book, so it wasn't exactly an easy read.

[Lilac Mohr · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fun sharing this book with my 7-year-old daughter. It's about a girl who needs to come up with an original treat to bake for a class contest. The recipes were very simple (like chocolate pudding), and the story was easy to follow. The main character's family escaped Europe during World War II. I like the integration of Jewish culture and holidays in the story and discussion of the Holocaust at a level suitable for younger children. The book was a nice springboard to more meaningful conversations with my daughter.

[Karin · Rating 2 out of 5]

set in 1940's, this novel follows a year in the life of a 5th grade girl. title (& recipes included) relate to important baking/essay contest that class is working towards. also deals with middle class jewish family in post ww2 u.s. wondering what has become of their family in europe. illustrations by leuyen pham are good.

[Anne Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dorrie is in fifth grade in 1945, shortly after the war ended. She is excited to be a part of the Sweet Semester in her class, but she has no idea what to make. As she tries new recipes, she shares them in the book. She also learns what it’s like to be an immigrant from Europe, through her cousin, Vincent.

[Alathea · Rating 5 out of 5]

i thought this book was good because they have alot of recipes and the words just make you want to dream of delicious warm chocolate and caramel and helps in case if your mom or dad want to make any good treats

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am trying to go through the old books on my to-read shelf! This is good for a 3-4 grade girl who wants to read something that takes place in or around WWII. There are recipes after most every chapter in the book all involving chocolate.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recipes containing chocolate are interspersed throughout, in the context of several episodes in a story of Pos- WWII Jewish girl. Lovely and nostalgic. I am getting ready to make the chocolate hazelnut torte!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't have a tag for this as I don't really read juvenile lit that much. I enjoyed this trek into a post WWII Jewish American family, the trials they faced and the recipes they offered. I'm sitting in for my Children's Librarian for her girls book club.

[Mr. Pe Mr. Pe]

this book is great i recommend this to everyone

[Ginger · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story trivializes the Holocaust by trying to be too cute.

[Caroline]

read it awesome

[Jordyn]

i want to read it so badly

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was at the library, for their Mother/daughter book club. It is a wonderful, sweet story. I will have my seven year old read it.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very Very yummy and delicious!

[Ariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A girl and her sweet semester.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a great book and if you like cooking then there is every recipe they mention in the book