This Cookie Will Change Your Life

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Author(s)

Ann Dee Ellis

Publisher

Peachtree Publishers

Genre(s)

Age Range

Release Date

May 13, 2025

ISBN

978-1682636893

Buy This Book

Do you love cookies? Have you ever felt alone in a room full of people? This novel is for you.

It’s the summer after sixth grade when a group of classmates turn up at the library at the same time. They know each other, but they’re not friends. The truth is, they each spend a lot of time alone. Which is why it’s so unexpected when Tilly, Jada, Eleanor, and Mateo create a cookie baking business together. It just kind of happens.

The problem is their plans keep falling apart. But each failure only makes them more determined to make something—anything—work. Because what they need more than anything is an escape from the loneliness and anxiety that comes with middle school. They want to be a part of something. And in the end, the one thing that goes right is their decision to count on each other.

Editor review

1 review

A cookie makes everything better.

August 09, 2025 (Updated: June 23, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

N/A

Odd chains of events bring together four deeply unhappy children in a study room in the public library. Tilly is determined to run away from her home, since her father and older brother are always angry and abusive. Mateo's grandmother has dementia and has moved in with the family. Jada's father is gone, and her mother has moved them from California so that she can work at the public library; Jada is angry and dresses in a lot of black. Eloise's father died, and her mother has remarried Barry. Eloise has decided that she wants to go to California, and plans on earning the money to do this by selling her gourmet cookies that she thinks are better than Crumbl's. She floats this business idea to the three others, and since they all would like to escape their lives and go to California, they all agree. In order to set up at the local farmers' market in three days, they need to develop and taste test cookies, bake them, and pay $575 to the market for stall space. Luckily, Tilly has a food handler's permit. Eloise's former friend Herschel is the only one whom seems to actually know how to bake, but Eloise is fighting with him and doesn't want his cookies. All of the kids make unsuccessful attempts at baking; in Tilly's case, her father and brother eat the cookies, and an argument ensues. When a tragedy occurs in Eloise's family, the group still thinks they can run a stall. While they manage to set up, but no one brings any cookies. Jada's mother often makes gourmet popcorn, so the group sells some of that. While their trip to California is unlikely, the serendipitous friendship helps all of the kids out.

Good Points

This is a character driven novel that explores the back stories of a varied group of children who are all dealing with different kinds of personal drama. There are friend issues, family problems, and of course, the unfortunately deceased parent. Reading about the misfortunes of others can be very comforting for middle grade readers, who might think that they have troubles in their lives, but at least they are not as bad as they could be.

There are a lot of details about random things, like In a Garten, Crumbl and other gourmet cookies, and baking techniques. The business details were excellent, and it was fun that Filly already had a food license. A lot of tweens think that a business would be a good idea, but don't quite understand how difficult it is to run one.

While this is definitely a story about Kids Doing Things, the characters philosophical conversations give this a contemplative, slow moving quality. This is a good choice for readers who are interested in back stories of the characters navigating trauma in books like Anderson's Ms. Bixby's Last Day or Korman's The Fort, or ones that enjoy baking stories like Simon's The Cupcake Diaries, Marks' The $150, 000 Rugelach, or Messner's new The Trouble with Heroes.