Taz’s Recipe

Written at a third-grade reading level, this addition to the Orca Currents series opens with a bang (a fire alarm, actually) as 14-year-old Taz inadvertently starts a small fire at her polytechnic high school while attempting to microwave chocolate chips in her food science class. The incident doesn’t derail Taz’s efforts to succeed in the class, though maybe it should—the book is a parade of culinary disasters that includes melted utensils, sliced fingers, and airborne roulades, all of which Tullson (Foolproof) recounts with droll humor while emphasizing both the real hazards and the creative rewards of cooking. Taz’s crush on a fellow student and her feelings surrounding her parents’ divorce flesh out a story that will entertain both culinarily talented readers and those who, like Taz, struggle with the finer points of making boxed mac and cheese. Ages 10–14. (Sept.)