World of Pies

This is a sweet little book at least in the beginning about one girl (Roxanne) growing up. The book follows her all the way from 13 to womanhood (in her 30s). Told in chapter-length vignettes, each little bit is a story of its own.

We first meet Roxanne at age 13. She lives in a small town named Annette and her father is helping to put on the first ever Pie Fair. Light as a cream filling at first, elements of darkness creep into the story as her mother is ostracized for insisting that a colored woman be able to enter her pie into the cook-off under her own name.

Much of the book is this way sweetness and light with a little bit of darkness underneath, like the underbelly of the small town is showing itself. Even so, each chapter goes down as easy as pie.

I do have a few small issues with the book. The primary one is that the format of small vignettes leads readers to a huge shock every time a new one is started. We jump from Roxanne at 13 to 15 then to high school graduation and college. We hardly have time to get to know her before that her is gone. And characters that are the focus of one chapter (like the first-ever mail lady in Annette or Mr. Fred, the sad gentleman accountant) are never mentioned again. It always gets to me when the author makes you care about someone and then boom they are gone.

The voice is another small issue since the book follows Roxanne all the way into womanhood, you would think that her inner voice would change. But, Roxanne at 33 pretty much sounds just like Roxanne at 13.

Overall though, I recommend this book for readers looking for a little slice of life&and of pie. Please note, however, that there are adult situations (not to mention some politically charged issues Roxannes life spans the 60s and 70s), so I would recommend this primarily for readers aged 14 and up. In fact, I dont think Id even really classify this as a YA book, even though the first few chapters show that side of her life.