The Great Chocolate Cake Bake-off by Philippa Werry
Nicholas is boringly normal. He’s not much good at anything, but not too bad at everything. He lives in an unusual family, his mother is dead and his father is a sculptor, and Zac, well he is just a little brother. And then Ruby moves next door. Ruby is the world expert on everything…. especially cooking because she watches all those cooking shows on TV and she know how it should be done.
“Boys can’t cook” says Ruby, and to prove her wrong Nicholas starts. First boiled eggs, and gradually expanding his efforts until eventually he discovers a talent for baking. But is his talent enough to get him into the finals of the Great Chocolate Cake Bake-off? Can even his ’secret ingredient’ compete against the daughter of the professional caterer.
This books is very light and funny, with strong characters and outlandish situations that somehow become real in the context of the story. Nicholas and his family are certainly not the stereotypical children’s book family, just like Ruby and her mother are unusual. This book is certain to provide good entertainment, although the reader may have to push through some slow passages.
