The Summer Kitchen

Blue Sky Hill #2

by Lisa Wingate

From the author of A Month of Summer , an inspiring new novel in the Blue Sky Hill series about one woman's effect on a struggling Dallas neighborhood.

With her adopted son missing and the rest of her family increasingly estranged, Sandra Kaye Darden is drawn to the little pink house where her Uncle Poppy once provided security. What begins for Sandra as a simple painting project, meant to prepare the house for sale, becomes a secret venture that eventually changes everything.

Cass Blue is having trouble keeping food on the table since she ditched foster care. When Sandra Kaye shows up with lunch one day, Cass has no way of knowing that the meeting will lead to the creation of a place of refuge that could reunite a divided community.

In this moving story of second chances, two unlikely allies realize their ability to make a difference...and the power of what becomes known as the Summer Kitchen to nourish the soul.

Genres: Fiction, Christian Fiction, Chick Lit, Book Club, Contemporary, Womens Fiction, Audiobook

354 pages, Paperback

First published July 7, 2009

About the author

Lisa Wingate is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Before We Were Yours, which remained on the bestseller list for over two years. Her award-winning works have been selected for state and community One Book reads, have been published in over forty languages, and have appeared on bestseller lists worldwide. The group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa and six others as recipients of the National Civics Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life. She lives in Texas and Colorado with her family and her deceptively cute little teddy bear of a dog, Huckleberry. Find her at www.lisawingate.com, on Facebook at LisaWingateAuthorPage, or on Instagram @author_lisa_wingate

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Lisa Wingate's books. Are they sophisticated "literature"? No. They're stories that make you feel good. Stories about ordinary people, just trying to do the best they can. There's a thread of Christianity running through them, but it never knocks you over the head--it's a subtle sort of Christianity, the truest kind--people trying to love one another.

I also enjoy the shifting perspective of the alternating first person narrative. As the story barrels along, you look forward to the back-and-forth of the viewpoint. And you know she's going to leave you feeling good. Sometimes that's what you want, and she always delivers.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super super sweet story! My eyes couldn't read fast enough for my heart which wanted to jump into the pages and become part of this story :)

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this author. I am a huge fan. She always lands between 4 and 5 stars. I love her writing, her characters, and her stories. I love the detail that makes all of that shine. While I'm not a huge fan of Chick-lit, I will always read her books. She does the southern charm well, both in character and in setting.

The characters in this one were the kind that you just want to reach in and pull out of danger. Being pulled in by their journey is always something I want to devour in one sitting. I enjoyed this one and I would definitely read it again. So 5 stars.

[Joleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and raw, this book follows Cass, a young orphan girl who just wants to live with her brother rather than being taken into the system. They run when their safety is threatened and life is hard, often low on food and living in little more than hovels.

A town outside Dallas is where Cass and Rusty settled for the moment, in a neighborhood near the home of Sandra Kaye's grandfather, "Poppy". Poppy was killed recently and broken-hearted Sandra is fixing the house up to sell. Seeing children in a dumpster nearby, Sandra decides to bring sandwiches the next time she arrives. This is where Cass and Sandra meet, and along for the ride is the darling, Iris, a sweet title thing with a drug addict mom who can’t function enough to take care of her.

Sandra's life isn’t as together as she'd like others to think, but her heart is huge and it goes out to neglected and hungry children like these. Cass becomes her co-hort of sorts, helping the daily sandwich making and distributing. Such a sensitive pairing; such love and need for love.

A bit too raw at times, but into the end, there's an awwww factor you won’t want to miss.

[Janet Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this sweet story of a family struggling emotionally who become entwined in the lives of some inner city kids in need. Heartwarming!

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Summer Kitchen is Lisa Wingate's new exciting and inspirational book! It is one of those straight through books-Can't put it down until finished.

Seventeen year old Rusty and his twelve year old sister, Cass Salley Blue, runaway from home just after their mother's funeral, to avoid foster care. Barely earning enough to keep a place to live and food on the table, they end up in a dilapidated apartment in a struggling section of Dallas. SandraKaye Darden is preparing her deceased uncle's little red house for sale. The house is located near Cass and Rusty's apartment.

The Summer Kitchen is laced with inspirational quotes. Cass Salley Blue: "Some lady told me once that when you don't like where you are, you could close your eyes and think of the place you'd rather be...If you believed it enough she said, it'd be just like you were there. A mind trip she called it."
"If the mountain's big, you gotta dream bigger, Cass Salley Blue. Nothing is impossible if you've got enough faith. You remember that."

Cass Salley Blue and Opel in her new "tshoos" will be long remembered!

This is a very special book by an extraordinary author! A book that hopefully makes it to the movies soon.

I highly recommend "the Summer Kitchen"!


Ed

[Janie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good "comfort" read. I would group this (or any of Wingate's books that I've read) as fluff at all. She writes fiction about contemporary real life and people whose actions make a difference.

What distinguishes her books from other "comfort" books is that the lessons of kindness and civility are emphasized as this quote from Penguin Random House states: "While her work has received many awards, she most treasures the National Civics Award, awarded by the kindness watchdog organization Americans for More Civility, to recognize public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life. She believes that stories can change the world."

A quote for The Summer Kitchen worth remembering:
When addiction runs in your family, you can't take chances. You can't try it once to see what it's like. One time can be the beginning of something you can't stop.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Summer Kitchen has 2 amazing characters. both of them dealing with difficult circumstances who live totally different lives. How they meet and connect by way of peanut butter snadwiches is a wonderful story that wil touch your heart. an easy read but very worthwhile as it will make you think.
I had never read this author before but will look of more of her books.

[Susanchitter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Her perfect life was shattered. Was it perfect or was it just a facade? Did she shelter her children too much that they did not have the skills to cope reality? As her life she knew it was falling apart, a new and different one was taking shape. Did she have the courage to look at the truth and change?

[Mich · Rating 5 out of 5]

not sure what is up with me and these 'feel good books' but i loved this one too! would definatly recommend it. no its not phenomenal literature with big character devlopment,etc its just a good old down to earth story. keeps your interest, and its just GOOD! go get it!

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I loved the first book more but I loved this book as well. I also love that this series takes place right by where I live! These characters are so real I feel I can hop in the car and visit them anytime :)
"There is a purpose for broken houses and broken people"

[Kayte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story from start to finish but would have liked more about Rusty and Cass’s next chapter in life. I believe that this book really gets people thinking about how their community is fairing and what they can do to help.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

My book rating comes from the nostalgia it created for me around Poppy's house, the numerous good deeds Sandra wound up performing, the lives she changed and the life she took on as a result.

Plain and simple, this was a feel good book about some pretty simple people who did some extra ordinary things. Sandra reflected their life had been good and easy...although I would suggest they had their share of difficult times that led Sandra to take some unusual risks and reach out to those less fortunate. Words to live by: "Sandra never thought to help those less fortunate. Fortunes can turn at any time and you find out what you're made of, what's beneath the surface."

[Leslie Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many lessons here on acceptance, kindness, expectations and parenting. A series of events leads to the meeting of a "go along to get along" woman with an adolescent girl with responsibilities and maturity beyond her years. This is the 5th Wingate book I've read and I believe that The Book of Lost Friends and Before We Were Yours will remain my favorites, but The Summer Kitchen is well worth reading. Narration was very well done.

[Karen Antonaitis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started out slow but by middle of book it picked up. There are some life lessons learned in this book. I enjoyed the ending especially about Opal's future and who she ended up with and the awesome future of The Summer Kitchen. The teenagers all had realistic roles. I am glad the husband finally came around and loved what and how it was discovered about Jake

[Onceinabluemoon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nope, you can’t judge a book by its cover... the one I had was a girl strolling in a filled garden, looked like something benign to enjoy while I was literally putting in my kitchen garden. So different, so not relaxing in gardens bounty....

[Carol McClain · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can't go wrong with a Lisa Wingate book if you like women's fiction.
The reason I gave this book a 4 star instead of 5 is because I could figure out the ending, and the story wasn't so compelling that I didn't notice the overuse of the words some and just. Currently, weasel words take me out of the story.
That said, I never wanted to skim the book. I read every word--including some and just. I buy Wingate's books almost without reading what they're about. She's hands down one of my favorite authors.

[Jeanne Caputo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I didn’t want to put it down. Great character development and connection between characters. Real-life situations…..it COUlD be different in real life, though. But, there’s hope in every situation, real or imagined. Lisa Wingate puts a little of herself in there. I love that.

[Charla Vaught · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again, Lisa Wingate has written a story that pulls the reader in, tugs at the heart, and leaves one satisfied with a great read at the end of the book.

[Cathy Flow]

Lisa Wingate has become one of my favorite authors. I love her writing style, and my friend Erica will know what I mean! I just finished this book and I’m in tears. This is the 2nd book in the Blue Sky Hill series and the 3rd I’ve read. The books take place in the low-rent side of Blue Sky Hill, a suburb of Dallas. Each book is about different characters but they also mention characters from the other books. So the books don’t have to be read in order. The Summer Kitchen is a moving story of second chances, with an unlikely pair of friends who realize the ability of one person to make a difference-and the power of what becomes known as the Summer Kitchen to nournish the soul.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This might need to be 5 stars....Loved it! This Summary/Review was copied from other sources and is used only as a reminder of what the book was about for my personal interest. Any Personal Notations are for my recollection only.
***
When a tragic event befalls SandraKay she is thrown upside down. Her elderly uncle is murdered and her adopted son decides to go and look for his birth parents while the rest of the family just avoids one another in an effort to try and act like nothing has happened.SandraKay is getting her Uncles house ready for sale.... cleaning/ meeting w/ real estate agent/ painting.... the house is a rough section of town and as she goes back and forth she cannot help but notice the individuals that are living amongst her new found hang out. Lives of a few of the people keep crossing hers and their association create something not a one would hve expected. In the depts of despair- light shines through.

This is sort of a hard book to read - for me- but I cannot put it down. Cass is one of the young people livng in the neighborhood that SandraKay befriends. She reminds me of so many young women/ girls I met when I worked for Head Start and other social service organizations. Cass is taking care of a baby named Opal(that belongs to a stripper that her brother felt sorry for and brought home so they had a roof over their head. They do not have any money and are so hungry. When SandraKay offers sandwiches one day- Cassy and Opal keep appearing at her door. . .
**
Loved this gentle, but thought provoking book. Well-to-do SandraKaye Darden's oldest son, Jake, has left college to return to his native Guatemala from which he was adopted by SandraKaye and her husband. Left behind is their biological son, Chris--talented musician, struggling academic trying to fill the dream his father had for Jake--to continue the line of Dr. Dardens. SandraKaye's mother and sister are addicts but she has escaped that life due in great part to the love and care of Uncle Poppy and Aunt Ruth. Now both are dead and Uncle Poppy's house is being sold. Going through the house with the realtor, she sees the many flaws and decided to do some painting and renovation. She encounters kids rummaging through a nearby dumpster for food, decided to make some sandwiches, delivers them only to encounter Cass Blue. Leaving the sandwiches with Cass, she promises to come the next day with more. One lunch leads to the creation of a lunch line and second chances for everyone involved. A lovely, delightful story.


***
The subject headings assigned to The Summer Kitchen (not to be confused by any other books by the same name!!) indicate that the book is about the psychological aspects of bereavement, about family, about runaways, city and town life, intergenerational relations, and lastly, life-changing events. Hmmm. From those subject headings it would seem that the plot of this book runs all over the place. And in some ways, I would agree. But we teach the children to identify what the story is MOSTLY about and this book, in my opinion, is mostly about life-changing events. And the way one life-changing event can have a domino effect on other aspects of one’s life. Sometimes so much so, that their life becomes almost unrecognizable as their own. It is realistic fiction told through the eyes of shared main characters, middle-aged mom SandraKaye and middle school aged Cass Blue.

SandraKaye experiences the death of her precious uncle, Poppy, and almost simultaneously the loss/disappearance of her adopted son Jake. But as is often the case in life, when one door (or two) closes, a window is opened. As SandraKaye prepares Poppy’s house to be sold and longs for her missing son, she meets Cass Blue, and her brother Rusty, who are on the run Child Protective Services and the whole foster care system.

SandraKaye stumbles into Cass’s life at the unlikely setting of a subsidized housing project’s Dumpster where some of the children living in the complex are foraging for food. SandraKaye’s initial reaction is a mix of disgust and confusion, why would children comb through trash for something to eat? But as fate would have it, she and Cass cross paths until SandraKaye realizes that around the corner from her comfortable family home, there are neglected children who are going to bed hungry every night.

From that realization, a friendship is born between SandraKaye and Cass. And as they work together on a project to ‘feed the children’, each fills the holes left by loss in the life of the other.

Wingate’s main characters are likeable…the plucky Cass who is wise beyond her years in common sense and life experiences and the struggling SandraKaye who is just trying to find some purpose, some sense to the recent upheaval of her home life. The story unfolds in alternating chapters related through the voices of SandraKaye and Cass. Wingate leads the reader logically through the story, with little side-stories and subordinate characters, from beginning to end.

Because I had the good fortune of reading from this borrowed paper copy of the book, I benefited from sentences and whole sections of the book that had been underlined or otherwise identified by Christi as significant. Three passages resonated with me in particular:

From page 280: Cass realizes that “If you expect to sink, you’ll sink but if you believe you’ve got the power, you’ll keep swimming…”

And

From page 297: SandraKaye tells herself “No more pretending. It was time to make a life that wasn’t shiny on the outside but hollow on the inside.”

And

From page 298: SandraKaye realizes that “Sooner or later, you have to shed your family’s expectations and run the race on your own.”
***
The Summer Kitchen is Lisa Wingate's new exciting and inspirational book! It is one of those straight through books-Can't put it down until finished.

Seventeen year old Rusty and his twelve year old sister, Cass Salley Blue, runaway from home just after their mother's funeral, to avoid foster care. Barely earning enough to keep a place to live and food on the table, they end up in a dilapidated apartment in a struggling section of Dallas. SandraKaye Darden is preparing her deceased uncle's little red house for sale. The house is located near Cass and Rusty's apartment.

The Summer Kitchen is laced with inspirational quotes. Cass Salley Blue: "Some lady told me once that when you don't like where you are, you could close your eyes and think of the place you'd rather be...If you believed it enough she said, it'd be just like you were there. A mind trip she called it."
"If the mountain's big, you gotta dream bigger, Cass Salley Blue. Nothing is impossible if you've got enough faith. You remember that."

Cass Salley Blue and Opel in her new "tshoos" will be long remembered
***
Well written and raw, this book follows Cass, a young orphan girl who just wants to live with her brother rather than being taken into the system. They run when their safety is threatened and life is hard, often low on food and living in little more than hovels.

A town outside Dallas is where Cass and Rusty settled for the moment, in a neighborhood near the home of Sandra Kaye's grandfather, "Poppy". Poppy was killed recently and broken-hearted Sandra is fixing the house up to sell. Seeing children in a dumpster nearby, Sandra decides to bring sandwiches the next time she arrives. This is where Cass and Sandra meet, and along for the ride is the darling, Iris, a sweet title thing with a drug addict mom who can’t function enough to take care of her.

Sandra's life isn’t as together as she'd like others to think, but her heart is huge and it goes out to neglected and hungry children like these. Cass becomes her co-hort of sorts, helping the daily sandwich making and distributing. Such a sensitive pairing; such love and need for love.

A bit too raw at times, but into the end, there's an awwww factor you won’t want to miss.
**
Last chapter
SandraKaye I heard the investment company planned to paint Poppy’s house yellow. The same color they painted all their rentals—a marker perhaps meant to let residents of the neighborhood know they were moving into the area, looking for deals. Sooner or later, the whole block would go, the old homes would be cleared out, and new housing complexes would be built. Some things are easier imagined than seen, so I didn’t drive by Poppy’s house after the sale was final. Even when Teddy, Rusty, Christopher, and a gathering of volunteers finished cleaning the the possibility of trying to operate from an empty portion of MJ’s building—with no kitchen, almost no parking, and no air-conditioning—Teddy popped into the conversation and said, “Pas-ter Al church got a kit-tchen, and lotta table, and chair, and . . .” The three of us looked at each other with our mouths open in a dawning eureka moment. “That’s perfect!” Holly gasped, one hundred percent positive, as always. The next thing I knew, she was giving Teddy a bear hug. He was so shocked he dropped paper plates all over the floor. When Holly released him, he stood snorting and laughing, his face turning red. “Pas-ter Al church got a kit-tchen and lotta table!” he repeated, and soon we were all headed to the little white church on the corner to find Pastor Al. Within a few days, we had a location for the café in the fellowship hall. Our new space came complete with a commercial kitchen, tables, space in the parking lot for basketball, and even a few church members interested in volunteering. We moved our equipment from Poppy’s house to the church, and I said good-bye to Poppy’s on a quiet day in early June, then I didn’t go back. It was too hard to think about what would happen there next. If not for the fact that a bit of mail came three weeks later, I never would have returned to the house at all. The note was waiting in the mailbox at the end of a perfectly ordinary day, when Holly dropped Christopher and me in our driveway. She waved as she pulled away, with Opal yawning and stretching in the back, her arms barely visible above the car seat Holly had saved in the attic all these years, just in case there might be one more little Riley, after all. As it turned out, the thought wasn’t so preposterous. One adult-child Riley moved out, and Opal moved in. Christopher trotted up our drive to tell his dad about the day as I walked to the curb to get the mail. I stood leafing through it, the afternoon sun warm on my hair. There were bills, advertisements, a newsletter from Family Central, where we’d started attending group counseling sessions on Tuesday nights. A tattered white envelope fell from my hands and drifted downward into the grass like a butterfly searching for a place to land. I finished skimming the outside of the Family Central newsletter, laughed at a cartoon of a teenager trying to coerce the car keys from his parents, then reached for what I’d dropped. The grass brushed my fingers as I picked up the envelope, turned it over, looked at the handwriting and knew instantly who’d sent the letter. The postmark blurred behind a sudden rush of tears, and I sank into the grass, blinking and reading the return address. Guatemala City, Guatemala. Inside the envelope were a carefully folded letter and two photos. I clasped the photos in shaking fingers, holding them like something fragile. A smile bloomed from somewhere deep inside me as I took in an image of Jake. He was laughing, holding up a soccer ball, with children all around him. I turned over the photo and scanned the neatly printed caption, undoubtedly meant to be read after the letter explained everything. Me at the school with the kids, it read. In the photo, Jake’s face was filled with joy, his dark eyes alive with light. Throughout the years, I’d seen Jake smile many times, but I’d never seen him look so completely at peace, so entirely in the moment. The second image was of Jake and a beautiful dark-haired young woman. They stood arm in arm in front of a waterfall that tumbled from the thick veil of trees. A rainbow had formed in the mist, encircling them. Waving the letter over my head, I ran toward the house, calling for Rob and Christopher. “It’s Jake! It’s Jake! Jake sent a letter!” I was breathless by the time I reached the kitchen and handed the photos to Rob and Christopher. Rob smiled and shook his head at the picture of Jake with the children. “Look at him,” he whispered, his eyes growing moist. Chris snatched the picture of Jake and the girl, turned it over searching for an explanation, then focused on the image again. “Forget about Jake, look at her.” We laughed together, admiring Jake’s new life. “There’s a letter,” I said, then unfolded the wrinkled sheet and laid it on the counter. The letter was written in pencil on notebook paper, the surface smudged and scrubby, as if Jake had composed and erased the text many times, trying to get it just right. Standing together, we read Jake’s note as a family, learned of his new life teaching at a school in Guatemala, and his blooming relationship with Gabrielle, whom he’d met at the school. He explained his reasons for leaving home, his deeply held emotion for his birth country, his need to go, and his inability to tell us about it. Mom and Dad, please know that I love you both, the letter ended. You gave me everything I needed to come here and try to make a difference. Chris, I miss you, dude. Shoot a three-pointer for me. I’ll get home when I can. Write me. There’s so much I want to tell you about this place. I only wish Poppy could see it, but sometimes I know he’s watching. I think about you often. I love all of you. God bless, Jake I set Jake’s letter by the bed, let it rest there overnight, and felt his presence in the house again. Even though he was growing up, finding his own way, we were still a family, and we always would be. Families aren’t dictated by geography, or biology, or the chemistry of chromosomes and DNA. There is, in fact, no perfect science to it at all. There is only the tie of love, which, in the end, is all that matters. In the morning, I woke early to look at the pictures. Rob stirred as I reached for them. He wrapped his arms around me, and I snuggled in, letting the photos lie. For now, there were more important things to tend to. The first lesson Rob and I had learned in family counseling was that we were the most important thing of all. In order to give Christopher a stable, happy home, we had to be willing to set everything else aside and do the work it took to give him stable, happy parents. In the long run, it wouldn’t matter how perfect our life looked to the neighbors, or how well we kept up appearances, but it would matter whether or not we showed our son that it’s all right to be imperfect, to admit your mistakes and then move past them. When I left the house for the day, I took Jake’s letter with me, stowed away in my pocket like a secret passenger. As I passed the little white church, Teddy was already busy working on some new gardens around the fellowship hall. Today he’d brought Hanna Beth and her husband, Edward, and they were planting some daisies with their young nurse and her two little boys. Any time now, Rusty would drop off Cass on his way to the morning credit-recovery classes that would allow him to start next year as a high school senior. Cass would help Teddy, and make the coffee, and wait for me to show up. When I arrived, we’d spend some time checking her lessons from afternoon summer school before the others came. This morning, she’d have to work on her own for a few minutes longer than usual. I had a special mission, and it was for no one but Poppy and Jake. Poppy’s house was silent and dark when I drove up. It seemed strange to see it in yellow, but it wasn’t as painful as I’d anticipated. Just as all of us were moving on, it was fitting that Poppy’s house move on, as well. Perhaps it was someone else’s time to find the secret places now. A breeze stirred the roses Teddy had groomed so carefully as I tiptoed to the house and slipped Jake’s letter underneath the loose piece of clapboard by the front window, where it could remain part of the house, part of Jake and Poppy. A bit of each of us, a bit of the whole of us, would always be here. But there was room for something new, as well, space to grow in directions that had once been beyond our imagining. My mind filled with the possibilities, with a sense of power and potential, as I crossed the yard and slipped into my car, feeling that, in some way, the work here wasn’t finished, but what would come next wasn’t for me. It was time for the little girl who hid beneath the oleander bush to leave the safe places behind, spread her wings, and fly out into the world. When I reached the old white church, Cass was helping Teddy in front of the fellowship hall. They smiled and waved as I drove up, then they stood very deliberately shoulder to shoulder, hiding something. “What are you guys up to?” I asked, climbing out of my car. Cass rolled her gaze upward in feigned innocence, her eyes reflecting the clear summer sky. “Something.” “Som’tin’ Rusty done,” Teddy added. “He done it las’ night. Rusty did.” “Guess,” Cass teased. “Guess what it is.” “I haven’t a clue,” I admitted, trying to see behind them, where something was covered haphazardly with a tablecloth. Cass nodded at Teddy, and he grabbed the corners of the fabric and pulled it away. “Ta-da!” she cheered, presenting the big reveal like a game show model. “It’s a present from Rusty and me.” Her blue eyes were so vibrant, it took me a moment to focus on the gift. When I did, I was filled with the purest joy, the sort that is rare and precious. Who could imagine that such joy could come from a simple wooden sign, from three words carved into the polished grain, then neatly painted in the bright pink of Poppy’s house? The gift encompassed so much more than a building, or a group of workers, or shelves stacked with food ready to be prepared, or a sense of purpose found, or empty stomachs filled, or lives changed. “It’s perfect.” I stepped forward, traced the words with my fingers, then whispered them aloud. “The Summer Kitchen.” Letting the name settle over me, I considered the wonders that a simple coat of paint on cabinets had led to. Who could have predicted such possibilities, but then again, nothing really happens by accident. There is a plan, even when we don’t see it, even when it’s nothing we would have guessed. There is a purpose for broken houses and broken people. Perhaps the wandering men knew that long ago. Perhaps they sensed it, and so they left behind the symbol of blessing. Or perhaps the blessing was the beginning of it all.

[Anne Maddox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it - couldn’t put it down. This was a great summer read.

[Carolyn Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve enjoyed Wingate’s writing in the past but there was A LOT going on in this novel. It seemed too implausible that all of this transpired over a few short weeks, with a lot of lies and deceptions from many characters. I liked the message(s) that she tried to incorporate but unfortunately it all fell flat for me.

[GoldenjoyBazyll · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a tragic event befalls Sarah she is thrown upside down. Her elderly uncle is murdered and her adopted son decides to go and look for his birth parents while the rest of the family just avoids one another in an effort to try and act like nothing has happened. Sarah is getting her Uncles house ready for sale.... cleaning/ meeting w/ real estate agent/ painting.... the house is a rough section of town and as she goes back and forth she cannot help but notice the individuals that are living amongst her new found hang out. Lives of a few of the people keep crossing hers and their association create something not a one would hve expected. In the depts of despair- light shines through.

This is sort of a hard book to read - for me- but I cannot put it down. Cass is one of the young people livng in the neighborhood that Sarah befriends. She reminds me of so many young women/ girls I met when I worked for Head Start and other social srvice organizations. Cass is taking care of a baby named Opal. They do not have any money and are so hungry. When Sarah offers sandwiches one day- Cassy and Opal keep appearing at her door. One time -on home visits- I went into this apartment. I was going in to do a circle time and spend time with the parents and the children. A man opened the door and let me in. The apartment was empty of furniture except for a few cushions that someone must have pulled from a dumpster. In the bedroom off the living roon were a group of men hanging out... the man left me with the children and went back with his friends To this day I am not sure why I stayed but I did. I sat on the cushions on the floor with the children and did my circle time activities. As I sat there I got into my activities with the children and ignored the surroundings. Eventually the mom came and we talked. We made a plan to get togehter again and we did. When I left... I, like Sarah, was trying to do things as respectfully as possible to help that family to help themselves. I think back on it now and remember not being shocked or surprised... often this is what life for people I encountered at my job was like. I remember feeling sad... no one thinks to themselves "when I grow up I want to be so poor that I have to pull cushions from a dumpster for my children to sit on." It is such a deep hole to dig out of. TRUTH is.... many do dig out and I marvel at them. I have thought to myself- it could have been me... would I have been able to be courageous enough to survive it????

The book is hard because it is like reading about people I know but also wonderful because of that fact!

Everything kind thing we do for one another can and does make a difference.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could not decide whether to give this novel 3 stars or 4!

This book started out strong for me, but after about 2/3 of the way through, I kind of lost interest for a while (to be fair, it could be because I am in the middle of a lot going on right now with family life!)

However Lisa Wingate always has something new to teach us, and in that way this novel did not disappoint.

The Summer Kitchen has two main characters with very differing circumstances. Cass, a pre-teen, is trying to find her uncle so that she and her older brother Rusty can find a real home. I liked Cass's character; she is spunky and not too naive, out of necessity in her struggles to avoid foster care.

"There is a plan, even when we don't see it, even when it's nothing we would have guessed. There is a purpose for broken houses and broken people."

Sandra Kaye is also trying to patch together her own life after her older (adopted) son left to find his biological parents. How their lives intersect in the novel is perhaps, not very believable, but when you read the interview at the end of the book with the author you realize that 'truth is stranger than fiction'.

This is not a 'comfortable' read, in that the novel reminds us that there are children who are out there that are hungry, that don't have a safe place to lie down at night, that don't have family... but at the same time, it does offer hope and solutions. Cass comes to realize that accepting help from other adults may not be a bad thing after all. Sandra Kaye finds that sometimes we just have to accept what we cannot change.

"Just when she couldn't go any farther, when the cold and the wind got all the way into her bones, she saw a light off in the distance, through the snow and the dark. She finally understood that sometimes, when you're too far away from your old place to get back to it, you have to head for a new place."

Lisa Wingate once again has given us an enjoyable read.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but not great! Could have used a bit of editing down. Characters are well defined and sympathetic. Told in first person by two women - one middle-aged experiencing losses that have turned her family upside down, the other a 12 year old posing as 17 in order to avoid questions about why there is no adult in the family, brother is 17, posing as 20 for same reason. The older woman, SandraKaye, discovers hungry children in the area of her deceased great uncles house and begins bringing them sandwiches. She finds this process is helping her cope with the murder of her great uncle and a son who has disappeared because he feels guilt for not being with his great uncle when the murder occurred. The young girl, Cass, is trying desperately to keep a household together with little money and too many mouths to feed. She and her brother keep the loss of their mother a secret so that they do not have to go to foster care and be separated. Rusty, the brother, lies about his age in order to get an apartment and keep a job. Cass and SandraKaye connect when Cass seeks out the sandwiches SandraKaye is distributing and begins to help her with the distribution. This work snowballs and both find the ability to trust again and to discover the importance of giving and receiving.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this gentle, but thought provoking book. Well-to-do SandraKaye Darden's oldest son, Jake, has left college to return to his native Guatemala from which he was adopted by SandraKaye and her husband. Left behind is their biological son, Chris--talented musician, struggling academic trying to fill the dream his father had for Jake--to continue the line of Dr. Dardens. SandraKaye's mother and sister are addicts but she has escaped that life due in great part to the love and care of Uncle Poppy and Aunt Ruth. Now both are dead and Uncle Poppy's house is being sold. Going through the house with the realtor, she sees the many flaws and decided to do some painting and renovation. She encounters kids rummaging through a nearby dumpster for food, decided to make some sandwiches, delivers them only to encounter Cass Blue. Leaving the sandwiches with Cass, she promises to come the next day with more. One lunch leads to the creation of a lunch line and second chances for everyone involved. A lovely, delightful story.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story about everyday people and the challenges they face. The story goes back and forth between the views of two different people, Sandra Kaye Darden a Mother of two and the wife of a Dr., who has lost her purpose in life and a young girl Cass, who along with her brother are trying to stay clear of being sent into foster care after having lost their mother. These two are brought together and a friendship forms when Sandra sees some kids diving in dumpsters looking for food, while she is in a run down neighborhood, trying to get her Uncles old house ready for sale. Sandra finally finds her purpose with the help of Cass, and you see a mix of wonderful characters come together to help each other and their neighborhood. There are many stories behind each of her characters, which give us a wonderful perspective into their lives, and why they are the way they are. I will definitely read more by this author. This book says it is # 2 in a series, but it is definitely an independent story. I think the area she writes about may be the only connecting link.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

i just could not get into this book. i can't believe how long it's taken me to finish it. i know i'm not a fan of a book when i can't get excited about reading it...on top of all the emotions and the sentimentality and the drippy sappiness of the novel was also too many descriptions. it took way too long to get to the point; there were so many adjectives and images that overtook the story. the story itself had potential, and that much i enjoyed...but it got to the point where i was just weeding through paragraphs so i could pull out the good stuff.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book won't knock anyone over with a highbrow writing style, it is nevertheless well written and the characters and events are satisfyingly true to life. It's clean enough for a church library, without shying away from realities like drugs, abuse, and kids who dumpster dive to survive. It touched my heart and reminded me to look around my neighborhood to see who might be falling through the cracks and need some help. I'll definitely read more of Lisa Wingate.