Summer of a Thousand Pies by Margaret Dilloway

Agent: Patricia Nelson, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. Those who share the protagonist’s passion for the culinary arts will delight in the easy-to-follow pie recipes following the story’s gratifying conclusion.

In a novel that evokes the warmth of home, newfound security, and friendship, Dilloway (the Momotaro books) effectively contrasts Cady’s old life with her new one while examining her muddled emotions, including the mixture of anger and love she feels toward her father.

When the business flails, and Aunt Shell is in danger of losing both her shop and her home, Cady is determined to find a solution. Here, Cady has a chance to practice her baking skills as Aunt Shell and her employees teach her how to make pie. At first, Cady is wary of pie shop owner Aunt Shell and her partner Suzanne, but it doesn’t take long for her to warm up to their hospitality and their quaint town, where people offer support. Her life changes abruptly, though, when social services arranges for her to live with an aunt she’s never met in the tiny village of Julian, apple pie capital of greater San Diego. Summer of a Thousand Pies is a sweet and satisfying treat of a novel full of friendship, family, and, of course, pie.Cady, 12, is used to being homeless, sleeping next to her father in his old van, and getting taunted at school.

But are there some things even the perfect pie just can’t fix? Saving the business and protecting the first place she’s ever really felt safe will take everything she's learned and the help of all her new friends.

Then she finds out that Aunt Shell’s shop is failing. Now she’s staying in her mother’s old room, exploring the countryside filled with apple orchards and pie shops, making friends, and working in Aunt Shell’s own pie shop-and soon, Cady starts to feel like she belongs. Cady isn’t used to stability, after growing up homeless in San Diego with her dad. When Cady Bennett is sent to live with the aunt she didn’t even know she had in the quaint mountain town of Julian, she isn’t sure what to expect. A heartfelt contemporary middle grade novel about a girl who must try to save her aunts failing pie shop. A heartfelt contemporary middle grade novel about a girl who must try to save her aunt’s failing pie shop, perfect for fans of The Thing About Jellyfish, Fish in a Tree-and The Great British Baking Show. This fabulous book about making pies will leave you hungry, while Cadys journey toward making a life will leave you entirely satisfied.

Summer of a Thousand Pies by Margaret Dilloway