Review Detail

“Chef’s Secret” by Kelly Yang follows main character Jason Yao and his girlfriend, Mia Tang. Life in middle school is not so easy, as he spends much of his time as a professional chef as well as helping to run a motel. He wants to make time for fun dates with his girlfriend, but his time is sparse, and he has to figure out the best way to make everything work in his favor. Little does he know that life—often in the form of his dad—is going to get in the way and make things that much harder for him.

As he tries to balance all of his responsibilities, he finds out that his dad is trying ever so hard to get their family a membership to a country club. His dad wants to make his mom happy, but Jason finds it more annoying than anything else. He doesn’t want to run into old bullies whom he believes belong to the club, and he feels it’s nothing more than a drain on the social and professional life he’s trying to build for himself.

Making things harder is the fact that Jason has never really had good guy friends. He really wants to make some, and when he finally starts to, he worries he’s overdoing it. He seems to be connecting with his new friend, though, but a lot of it revolves around them talking about how Jason wants to impress Mia. Figuring out how to plan the perfect first date takes up much of his free time, and when he finally gets everything set, a wrench is thrown into the works in the form of his dad and country club business.

Even though Jason deals with a lot of anxiety and stress, watching how he tries to make it all work is impressive. It sometimes gets the best of him, but when wouldn’t this happen, even to an adult, but especially to a middle schooler? Kelly Yang has written an interesting, enjoyable story that will keep middle grade readers engaged.