Bite-Sized Magic

December 15, 2013
Picking up where A Dash of Magic (2013) ended, inimitable Rosemary Bliss pits her baking skills against the Mostess Snack Cake Corporation, which is intent on world domination through bite-sized cakes infused with magical ingredients. After defeating her nefarious aunt, Lily Le Fay, in the Gala des Gateaux Grands baking contest and recovering the Bliss family's Cookery Booke, 12-year-old Rosemary emerges "the most famous baker in all the world." Now that she's home in Calamity Falls, paparazzi make Rosemary's life unbearable, prompting her to wish she "never had to bake again," a wish she regrets when a bizarre new law closes the Bliss Family Bakery. Then she's kidnapped by Mostess' owner, Mr. Butter, who forces her to perfect recipes for his snack cakes, designed to enslave America. Determined to undermine Butter's sinister plan by secretly devising antidotes, Rosemary finds her baking talents sorely tested, even with help from a clever cat, a musical mouse and her zany brothers. As in the earlier Bliss novels, slapstick action revolves around Rosemary's experiments with outrageous recipes from the Cookery Booke, to the delight of all. Spot art highlights story themes. Bliss fans will revel in more improbable baking feats, comic action, exaggerated characters and outlandish ingredients in this latest delicious addition. (Fantasy. 8-12)

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March 1, 2014

Gr 4-6-Rosemary Bliss thought it was bad enough that her family's magical bakery had been forced to close but now she's been kidnapped. Taken to the Mostess Corporation compound (the biggest industrial bakery in the country), she must perfect five recipes for the owner, Mr. Butter, if she ever wants to see her family again. Rose soon finds out that the recipes contain evil magic that makes people crave more and more of Mostess's mediocre creations, with dangerous consequences. Scared about losing her family, Rose dutifully creates the recipes for Glo-Balls, Mooney Pyes, Dinky Doodle Donuts, King Things, and The Dinky, all the while secretly creating antidotes for the vile effects they cause. With the help of her talking cat, the chefs under her control in the Mostess kitchen, and her less-than-serious brothers, Rose attempts to disrupt the nefarious plot of Mr. Butter and the International Society of the Rolling Pin to take over the world through mass-produced baked goods. Though, predictably, good magic triumphs over evil, it is not clear until the very end that Rose's plan will succeed. Sure to entice aspiring chefs as well as lovers of sweets and stirring adventures, readers should start with the first book in the series to get the true flavor of the characters, while those who have already taken a bite will enjoy another delightful treat in this third installment. Like a good cup of hot chocolate, this book will leave readers satisfied, but with the hope of another cup soon.-Clare A. Dombrowski, Amesbury Public Library, MA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2014
In the third Bliss novel, Rosemary is kidnapped by the Mostess Snack Cake Corporation and forced to use her magical baking skills for evil. With some newfound friends and her siblings, Rosemary uses the Bliss family's magical recipes to turn the company's nefarious plan on its head. This whimsical adventure melds baking, family camaraderie, magic, fantasy, and a good-versus-evil theme to diverting effect.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)