Pie in the Sky

"Eight and up. You could even do seven and up, depending on reading ability. At the beginning of Pie in the Sky , I wasn’t sure where it was going, but by the end I was sobbing. I realize that I’ve really picked some deep books here! It’s about two brothers. It never says exactly what country they’re from—I know the author was born in Indonesia, but grew up in Singapore—but they come to Australia. They don’t speak English, but they have to integrate. You learn that the reason they’ve come to Australia is because their parents had a wish for them to have a better life. But you know throughout that their Papa is not there. The brothers’ relationship is really funny. It reminded me of Judy Blume’s books Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing with the older brother and Fudge. They have this typical relationship that goes backwards and forwards, they fight, they call each other boogers, they tease each other, but you can tell there’s a little bit of a sadness there. “There truly is a book out there for every reader, if only you take the time to discover their interests and passions” The older brother particularly struggles, while his younger brother seems to be picking up English a lot more easily and making friends. The older brother just wants his Papa to be there. They come from a family of bakers, and baking becomes a really important part of how he gets through his days. Some super funny things happen but, ultimately, he starts to learn English through cookbooks that he gets from the library. His mom gets more and more frustrated with him, because they’re not supposed to bake when she’s not home, and a lot of drama starts unfolding. The reader begins to realize that the baking is him fighting his grief, because his dad is not coming, but has passed away. They are living the dream that his dad had, and he’s been struggling with that. Once his mom realizes that, she becomes a lot more accepting of the baking and they bond over it. It brings them all together. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . What I also thought about this book was that if you were an immigrant, then the story would really resonate with you. But if you’re not an immigrant, you’d also understand that these boys were having the same struggles that you have—plus the language barrier. Again, everybody’s just like you, everybody’s just like me, and the more we’re accepting and helpful the better off we’ll all be. If we could have helped this boy to learn English more quickly, he would have had a much easier time and made friends more quickly. Everybody would have been eating and enjoying cakes together a lot sooner, rather than waiting until the end. It’s highly illustrated throughout, which I like. The illustrations really help to highlight the more impactful moments. When they first arrive in Australia, everybody that’s speaking English has an alien head. Then, as he’s integrating, everybody who is speaking English has a regular head and he sees himself with an alien head. He’s gone from feeling self-assured to feeling like an alien on a foreign planet. And then, as it gets to the end, the alien heads disappear. It’s really unique and a really great book that bridges the gap between a regular chapter book and a graphic novel."