Ms. Hen reviews Midsummer's Mayhem

 

Midsummer's Mayhem

Rajani LaRoccca

Yellow Jacket

2019

Ms. Hen decided to read this because she saw the author talk on a Ted Talk for the hospital where Ms. Hen works. The author talked about how weird she is, and how she embraces her weirdness. She is a doctor, and became a children's book writer. Ms. Hen likes to read middle grade fantasy sometimes, so she decided to read one of the author's books. Ms. Hen is also weird.

This novel is about a young girl named Mimi, who loves to bake. She is the youngest of the children in her family, and her three older siblings are talented: her sister Riya is a dancer, her brother Henry is an actor, and her sister Jules is a soccer player. Mimi's father is a food writer, but when he comes back from a trip, he mysteriously eats everything in sight, and cannot discern tastes.

Mimi misses her friend Emma who moved to Australia, but she makes friends with a boy named Vik in the woods who plays a song on an instrument like recorder that is nostalgic to her. A cafe in their town is running a baking contest, and Mimi wants to win. The woman who runs the bakery, Mrs. T., is mysterious, and turns down Mimi's first creation, and wants her to bake from her heart. Mimi bakes honeysuckle cookies and the the teenage boys who ate them fall in love with whoever is closest to them. Jules gets upset about this, and things happen that upset people. Mimi bakes amazing sounding things, with herbs that she finds in the forest. The forest turns into a different place with a banyan tree, wild boars, and a cobra.

Ms. Hen could find the similarities between this book and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, which she has seen many times. The magic is subtle, but it's present; Mimi wants to win the contest, but she isn't aware of what it entails. She also doesn't know her powers. Ms. Hen was impressed that there were a few recipes at the end of this book. She doesn't think she'll bake them, but she wishes someone she knew would.

Ms. Hen has never been a person who bakes, but she admires people who have that passion. She doesn't normally like to spend a long time making something that is very unhealthy. However, last year, she became what she calls a "Covid baker." She baked on Saturdays, only in the winter, because she liked to eat things straight from the oven. She baked pumpkin loaf, cranberry orange loaf, and cupcakes.

Ms. Hen liked this book because it is a light read for the summer. Reading about baking made her hungry! She admires the author because she has a lot of books coming out this year. Ms. Hen thinks this book is charming, and she's happy she read it.