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The Saturday Cooking Club #1
Kitchen Chaos
Can their friendships take the heat? A trio of mothers and daughters will find out when they sign up for a cooking class from a famous chef in the first book of the Saturday Cooking Club series - it's mother-daughter bonding and so much more!
Liza and Frankie have always been best friends. But when new girl Lillian arrives from San Francisco, suddenly three's a crowd. Especially after the trio is grouped together for a big sixth-grade social studies project - can they put aside their animosity long enough to succeed? When Liza suggests they all take a cooking class with the chef from her favorite cooking show for the project, the girls are on board, but they need an adult to take the class with them. It seems like the perfect opportunity to snag some quality time with their over-scheduled, overstressed mothers... if they can convince them to sign up!
Several headaches and close calls later, the girls at last find themselves in Chef Antonio's kitchen with their mothers in tow - but the drama is only just beginning!
Liza and Frankie have always been best friends. But when new girl Lillian arrives from San Francisco, suddenly three's a crowd. Especially after the trio is grouped together for a big sixth-grade social studies project - can they put aside their animosity long enough to succeed? When Liza suggests they all take a cooking class with the chef from her favorite cooking show for the project, the girls are on board, but they need an adult to take the class with them. It seems like the perfect opportunity to snag some quality time with their over-scheduled, overstressed mothers... if they can convince them to sign up!
Several headaches and close calls later, the girls at last find themselves in Chef Antonio's kitchen with their mothers in tow - but the drama is only just beginning!
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 6, 2015
13 people are currently reading
807 people want to read
About the author
Deborah A. Levine
4 books14 followersDeborah's writing for children, adults, and everyone in between has appeared in books, magazines, and online. She lives, works, eats, and occasionally cooks in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband, two kids, and two cats.
Deborah's books include The Saturday Cooking Club #1 - Kitchen Chaos (Aladdin, 2015), Parker Picks (Simon & Schuster, 2002) and Love Miscellany (Skyhorse, 2012). She is also the director of marketing & communications for the global education network, Teach For All, and was the editorial director for Nickelodeon's award-winning website, Nick.com, for over a decade.
Deborah's books include The Saturday Cooking Club #1 - Kitchen Chaos (Aladdin, 2015), Parker Picks (Simon & Schuster, 2002) and Love Miscellany (Skyhorse, 2012). She is also the director of marketing & communications for the global education network, Teach For All, and was the editorial director for Nickelodeon's award-winning website, Nick.com, for over a decade.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
February 28, 2015
A great, easy read, Frankie has to impress her social studies teacher, Mr. McEnroe, who she has an itty-bitty crush on, and when he gives them an assignment, Frankie immediately picks her BFF Liza as her partner. But when Liza hears they have to partner up in groups of three, she becomes determined to include the new kid, Lillian, whether Frankie likes it or not. It's a funny, friendly book, and I highly recommend it.
February 28, 2020
I felt like this book was just confusing. One of the characters, (Lillian I think it was) was talking about how her family isn't rich at all, and then when she's describing her house, she's like: "It's a decent looking house, I guess, with four floors and gardens in the front and back." How can you not be rich and live in a four story house in California??? Another thing I didn't like about it was that all the girls were spoiled brats who were so used to getting what they wanted when they wanted it, they even sometimes blackmailed people into doing what they wanted!! That's pretty much what each and everyone of them did to get their mom's to take the cooking class with them! "Don't be ridiculous, Lillian. If I can make a bird's nest soup, I'm quite sure I can make a French fry or hamburger patty." ( that was Lillian's mom talking) (and now here's Lillian) "Okay then, Mama," I say "Prove it". Can anyone else see how mean they are to their mom's? And that was just one example! I could go on and on about how many faults this book has, but that would make reading this review like an hour long, so I will spare you a few details. I would not recommend reading this book unless you are eight, or else you will probably hate it.
December 16, 2021
Me parece muy factible la historia aquí presentada, y las niñas que la lean puedan sentirse identificadas si bien no con la relación entre las tres protagonistas si con la relación de alguna de ellas con su madre.
La autora muestra una amalgame de situaciones cotidianas de las que todos nos ha tocado pasar o escuchar a personas cercanas: Emigración, mudanza, divorcio, mamá o papá más enfocados en el trabajo que en sus familias, o si desean estar con sus familias, pero la naturaleza de su trabajo se lo impide.
La actitud de las chicas tanto entre ellas como con sus familias (en particular sus madres) y otros personajes, si bien, no estoy del todo a gusto por algunas decisiones si que creo son realistas, lo que ayudará sin duda será atractivo para las niñas para las cuales esta novela fue escrita.
Si bien, no todos los conflictos se resuelven cosa que por un lado me agrada pues así es la vida, pero por otro lado si deja un regusto amargo más no diría insatisfactorio, más lo que si no me agradó del todo fue el posible romance a la vista entre dos adultos.
El único personaje que me agradó fue el chef, quien además usa palabras en español, él y otro personaje. Aunque por ahí hay algún errorcin, el cual no me decidió a ignorar por no afectar la trama o pensar “si vas a usar otro idioma, haz que alguien nativo le de una revisión”.
Se habla sobre comida (información histórica, ingredientes, preparación) pero no en profundidad y siento no lo suficiente lo cual es un poco decepcionante. Pues fue la parte que llamó mi atención al leer la sinopsis y decidirme por esta novela.
Por último, la autora divide la novela por capítulos, cada uno de ellos desde el punto de vista de una protagonista. Los capítulos se sienten cortos, rápidos y con un lenguaje sencillo. Si bien, no cambia el estilo para reflejar la personalidad de cada una.
"It's a strange combination of flavors that you'd never expect to go together, but somehow, it works. Just like us." Lillian.
La autora muestra una amalgame de situaciones cotidianas de las que todos nos ha tocado pasar o escuchar a personas cercanas: Emigración, mudanza, divorcio, mamá o papá más enfocados en el trabajo que en sus familias, o si desean estar con sus familias, pero la naturaleza de su trabajo se lo impide.
La actitud de las chicas tanto entre ellas como con sus familias (en particular sus madres) y otros personajes, si bien, no estoy del todo a gusto por algunas decisiones si que creo son realistas, lo que ayudará sin duda será atractivo para las niñas para las cuales esta novela fue escrita.
Si bien, no todos los conflictos se resuelven cosa que por un lado me agrada pues así es la vida, pero por otro lado si deja un regusto amargo más no diría insatisfactorio, más lo que si no me agradó del todo fue el posible romance a la vista entre dos adultos.
El único personaje que me agradó fue el chef, quien además usa palabras en español, él y otro personaje. Aunque por ahí hay algún errorcin, el cual no me decidió a ignorar por no afectar la trama o pensar “si vas a usar otro idioma, haz que alguien nativo le de una revisión”.
Se habla sobre comida (información histórica, ingredientes, preparación) pero no en profundidad y siento no lo suficiente lo cual es un poco decepcionante. Pues fue la parte que llamó mi atención al leer la sinopsis y decidirme por esta novela.
Por último, la autora divide la novela por capítulos, cada uno de ellos desde el punto de vista de una protagonista. Los capítulos se sienten cortos, rápidos y con un lenguaje sencillo. Si bien, no cambia el estilo para reflejar la personalidad de cada una.
"It's a strange combination of flavors that you'd never expect to go together, but somehow, it works. Just like us." Lillian.
March 11, 2015
I first learned of this book when it was recommended as a #WeNeedDiverseBooks selection by someone on Twitter. What an incredibly important book for young girls. It goes beyond simply teaching that we all descended from immigrants, touching on the issues of friendship and mom-daughter bonding. I love books that are not only fun but teach you a few things!
April 20, 2021
Review by Sophie, age 11... I would give it a 4.5. I liked this book and the characters. I also like that this is a book about cooking because I like those types of books. I've already read it twice. I'm looking forward to the next book!
May 18, 2018
Levine Deborah The Saturday Cooking Club: Kitchen Chaos, 319 pages. Simon & Schuster, 2015. $8 Language: G (0 swears 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: G.
Liza and Frankie are two seventh graders who have been best friends since they were little. They were the best team for school projects until their social studies teachers , Mr. McEnroe, asked all the students to be in groups of three for their big immigration project. The third person of their team is a girl named Lillian whose parents came from China. They take a Saturday cooking class with a famous cooking show host named chef Antonio to learn about american cooking for their project. After six weeks of taking the class. They have learned all they need for their project and maybe even more.
I really liked this book. It was full of lots of drama, and I really learned a lot about American cooking. I would definitely recommend this to all those seventh graders who love cooking.
MS - ADVISABLE 7th grade student reviewer MZ
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2018...
Liza and Frankie are two seventh graders who have been best friends since they were little. They were the best team for school projects until their social studies teachers , Mr. McEnroe, asked all the students to be in groups of three for their big immigration project. The third person of their team is a girl named Lillian whose parents came from China. They take a Saturday cooking class with a famous cooking show host named chef Antonio to learn about american cooking for their project. After six weeks of taking the class. They have learned all they need for their project and maybe even more.
I really liked this book. It was full of lots of drama, and I really learned a lot about American cooking. I would definitely recommend this to all those seventh graders who love cooking.
MS - ADVISABLE 7th grade student reviewer MZ
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2018...
November 14, 2018
I didn't think I was going to like this book but it turned out to be fairly entertaining. It's about a school project, two friends, a new girl, and three very different families. Liza and Frankie are best friends and always do their school projects together. This time they are required to have 3 in a group. Liza chooses the new girl, Lillian. Frankie doesn't exactly welcome Lillian with open arms. Since the project is about immigration, Liza comes up with the idea to do a cooking class that focuses on dishes brought to America.
There's a lot of character diversity in this book. Frankie is Italian. Lillian is Chinese. Liza is African/Jewish. Each girl signs up for the class along with their mothers. Frankie's mom is a terrible cook. Liza's mom can cook, but doesn't have time. Lillian's mom is a control freak who thinks she's the best at everything. By the end, all the girls have done a lot of problem solving, appreciate their moms more, and have grown from a twosome to a threesome. A lot happens at each cooking class. Girls who like to cook will love this book.
There's a lot of character diversity in this book. Frankie is Italian. Lillian is Chinese. Liza is African/Jewish. Each girl signs up for the class along with their mothers. Frankie's mom is a terrible cook. Liza's mom can cook, but doesn't have time. Lillian's mom is a control freak who thinks she's the best at everything. By the end, all the girls have done a lot of problem solving, appreciate their moms more, and have grown from a twosome to a threesome. A lot happens at each cooking class. Girls who like to cook will love this book.
August 30, 2017
One of the main characters was so obnoxious that I had little patience and no sympathy for her. The three characters alternated being the narrator for the chapters. I wish authors wouldn't use names that are similar or start with the same letter, at least not with the main characters. I kept mixing up Liza with Lillian (the two non-obnoxious characters.)
May 4, 2018
I liked when Liza kind of took the lead on the idea for the project, I also like how they switched perspectives when i was reading I was always on the edge of my seat. I did not like that it seamed like some of the characters were to obnoxious it was a little two over exaggerated.
October 4, 2018
I think this is a really great middle grade book about friendship that throws is great information about food, cooking and the melting pot that is the US. I will recommend this to a bunch of girls at the library.
September 8, 2018
This book shares so much love between the three girls who all become friends. Come with them through there cooking experience.
March 16, 2024
I loved this book.
July 30, 2024
it was okay
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March 17, 20172 Friends have been besties forever but then a new girl starts doing a project with them its hard to accept her.
December 19, 2016
Liza and Frankie have been best friends for years, and they always work on major school projects together. When their social studies teacher requires that the class work in groups of three for an assignment about immigration, Frankie begins strategizing to partner with the classmate who is least likely to interfere with her and Liza's ideas. Before she can make her choice, however, Liza announces that she has invited new girl Lillian to complete their trio. Despite Frankie's reservations, the three girls come up with a great idea for their project: taking a celebrity chef's cooking class about the origins of American cuisine and then reporting on it. Unfortunately, they can't take the class without adult supervision. While only one parent is required to sign up, a series of mis-communications results in all three girls' mothers taking the class. The moms mean well, but between Liza's mom's babysitting troubles, Frankie's mom's culinary ineptitude, and Lillian's mother's snobbery against non-Chinese cooking, the girls are in for a series of minor crises on their road to an A.
As cooking-themed novels for this age group go, this is one of the best. The girls are not precociously talented chefs; they are just normal kids working toward a good grade. The celebrity chef aspect might be a little bit unbelievable - especially since all three girl/mom pairs get into the class despite its supposed popularity - but otherwise, it's much more realistic than novels where kids have amazing natural talent in the kitchen, and it includes a lot of great friendship and family situations that tween girls love to read about.
This book does its best to include a diverse cast. Liza's mother is black, Frankie is from a large Italian family, and Lillian's parents are Chinese immigrants. Unfortunately, Frankie's family is stereotypically loud and boisterous, while Lillian's mother is stereotypically cold and judgmental. (She reminded me a lot of Lane's mother on Gilmore Girls, or Claudia's mom in The Baby-sitters Club series, both of whom are stern Asian women.) It would have been nice to see the mothers' characters fleshed out a bit more, especially since their involvement in the class is such an important part of the story. The girls themselves are more three-dimensional, and their struggles to work together as a group of three when Liza and Frankie are such good friends are painfully true to life, and the real driving force of the book.
Though no information is yet available on a second book, it does appear that Saturday Cooking Club is going to be a series. It's hard to imagine how the cooking club will continue after everything comes to such a tidy resolution in this book, but it seems likely that if it comes to fruition the series will appeal strongly to kids who love the Mother/Daughter Book Club series. It also makes a nice read-alike for the Darlings books by Melissa Kantor, which also focus on a trio of tween friends. All in all, this is another success for the Aladdin Mix imprint.
As cooking-themed novels for this age group go, this is one of the best. The girls are not precociously talented chefs; they are just normal kids working toward a good grade. The celebrity chef aspect might be a little bit unbelievable - especially since all three girl/mom pairs get into the class despite its supposed popularity - but otherwise, it's much more realistic than novels where kids have amazing natural talent in the kitchen, and it includes a lot of great friendship and family situations that tween girls love to read about.
This book does its best to include a diverse cast. Liza's mother is black, Frankie is from a large Italian family, and Lillian's parents are Chinese immigrants. Unfortunately, Frankie's family is stereotypically loud and boisterous, while Lillian's mother is stereotypically cold and judgmental. (She reminded me a lot of Lane's mother on Gilmore Girls, or Claudia's mom in The Baby-sitters Club series, both of whom are stern Asian women.) It would have been nice to see the mothers' characters fleshed out a bit more, especially since their involvement in the class is such an important part of the story. The girls themselves are more three-dimensional, and their struggles to work together as a group of three when Liza and Frankie are such good friends are painfully true to life, and the real driving force of the book.
Though no information is yet available on a second book, it does appear that Saturday Cooking Club is going to be a series. It's hard to imagine how the cooking club will continue after everything comes to such a tidy resolution in this book, but it seems likely that if it comes to fruition the series will appeal strongly to kids who love the Mother/Daughter Book Club series. It also makes a nice read-alike for the Darlings books by Melissa Kantor, which also focus on a trio of tween friends. All in all, this is another success for the Aladdin Mix imprint.
July 24, 2015
Liza and Frankie are a team, best friends since forever and great partners on school projects too. But when their 7th grade social studies teacher assigns a major project for teams of three, they have to expand their ranks to include a new girl, Lillian. Liza takes to her right away, but Frankie is not so sure she wants to embrace Lillian as a new friend as well as a teammate.
The project they create—exploring the history of U.S. immigrants through food—gets them to sign up for a cooking class with their moms and discover things about eating, and themselves, they didn’t know before.
The Saturday Cooking Club: Kitchen Chaos, is the first of a new series by Deborah A. Levine and JillEllyn Riley. Told in alternating chapters from the perspective of each girl, the book gives insight into challenges that arise in different family situations. For instance, Frankie’s family life includes several brothers, a firefighter dad that cooks, and a mom who is prone to kitchen disasters. Liza’s single-mother mom is often too harried to put a meal on the table, and Liza often ends up heating up food or ordering take out. Lillian’s family seems perfect on the outside, but she feels pressure to conform in ways that don’t fit her personality. Each girl learns to recognize the challenges as well as the benefits of living within her own unique family.
I highly recommend Kitchen Chaos for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 9 and up. Issues to discuss include making new friends while keeping old ones, mother-daughter relationships, personality in the kitchen, and family backgrounds. Don’t be surprised if you’re inspired to explore more of the foods mentioned in the book and create your own feast for book club.
The authors provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
The project they create—exploring the history of U.S. immigrants through food—gets them to sign up for a cooking class with their moms and discover things about eating, and themselves, they didn’t know before.
The Saturday Cooking Club: Kitchen Chaos, is the first of a new series by Deborah A. Levine and JillEllyn Riley. Told in alternating chapters from the perspective of each girl, the book gives insight into challenges that arise in different family situations. For instance, Frankie’s family life includes several brothers, a firefighter dad that cooks, and a mom who is prone to kitchen disasters. Liza’s single-mother mom is often too harried to put a meal on the table, and Liza often ends up heating up food or ordering take out. Lillian’s family seems perfect on the outside, but she feels pressure to conform in ways that don’t fit her personality. Each girl learns to recognize the challenges as well as the benefits of living within her own unique family.
I highly recommend Kitchen Chaos for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 9 and up. Issues to discuss include making new friends while keeping old ones, mother-daughter relationships, personality in the kitchen, and family backgrounds. Don’t be surprised if you’re inspired to explore more of the foods mentioned in the book and create your own feast for book club.
The authors provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
May 10, 2016
This book is okay. My friend recommended it to me. So I took it. When Liza talks about Cole it's weird. So I will read the next book in the series but hopefully it is not weird. My favorite character is Lillian. For the next book I will be open minded.
Frankie and Liza have always been best friends. But when the new girl Lillian comes along Frankie gets mad. Soon enough they have a science project together and they have to take a cooking class. Will Frankie like Lillian or no? Read the book to see.
Frankie and Liza have always been best friends. But when the new girl Lillian comes along Frankie gets mad. Soon enough they have a science project together and they have to take a cooking class. Will Frankie like Lillian or no? Read the book to see.
February 21, 2016
My 5th and 6th grade girls will enjoy this lighthearted story about friendship, cooking, and family relationships.
This would be a great book for a book club - particularly a mother-daughter book club. You could do so many activities with it that deal with ancestry, foods around the world, and cooking.
This would be a great book for a book club - particularly a mother-daughter book club. You could do so many activities with it that deal with ancestry, foods around the world, and cooking.
May 25, 2016
3.5
I enjoyed the cooking parts to this book the best. Some of the drama that took place almost seemed forced, like would some of that really happened. It's a really quick read and I enjoyed learning about all the different backgrounds of the food and of the characters.
I enjoyed the cooking parts to this book the best. Some of the drama that took place almost seemed forced, like would some of that really happened. It's a really quick read and I enjoyed learning about all the different backgrounds of the food and of the characters.
August 13, 2015
I can think of several 4th, 5th and 6th graders who would like this story and find themselves in the characters, their families and their friendship.
July 24, 2016
I really enjoyed this book.It`s not only about cooking but about family and friendship.
July 29, 2015
That was great! One of the best middle grade books I've read in awhile.
April 5, 2017
Absolutely amazing! Love this book, read it a million times! So good!
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May 13, 2017I liked it
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews