The Bake Shop Ghost
by Jacqueline K. Obgurn; illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
Poor, dead Cora Lee; nobody misses her homely self, just her scrumptious cakes. So she haunts her bakery, scaring off new owners until the plucky Annie Washington shows up. But Cora Lee won’t budge until Annie whips up something that “nobody ever made for me.”
After a cake-making marathon to move heaven and earth, resourceful, stubborn Annie has a head-slapping epiphany and bakes the lonely ghost a birthday cake.
Priceman’s ink-and-watercolor illustrations swirl and swoop with Cora Lee’s ethereal presence, and a few dabs of brown or gold coalesce into mouth-watering morsels. She’s portrayed Annie as African-American and Cora Lee as white, but the undercurrent of tension between the two seems more generational than racial, with Annie’s offerings running the gamut of trendy ethnic cuisines and Cora Lee being a stickler for tradition.
Their friendship is ordained from the time they meet, however, because who can stay mad with all that chocolate around?
Rating: *\*\*\
Sweet. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
Posted by: brettdl | October 07, 2005 at 04:22 PM
Wow, you make this book sound yummy! I'll definitely give it a look next time I'm browsing.
Posted by: Renee | October 11, 2005 at 10:10 PM