978-1454942207 | Sterling Children’s Books
I’ve been reading more chapter books lately, and a new series I’ve been enjoying very much is AVEN GREEN by Dusti Bowling, illustrated by Gina Perry.
Third grader Aven Green has many interests and in the newest book in the series, AVEN GREEN BAKING MACHINE, she’s getting ready for a big baking competition. Her plan? Enlist the help of her closest friends: Kayla, Emily, and Sujata.
But, there’s something you should know about Aven. She doesn’t bake the way many bakers do. In AVEN GREEN SLEUTHING MACHINE, she explains:
I don’t have any arms or fingers or hands or elbows or
forearms or biceps. I just have shoulders, but nothing
under them… I was born like this.
If you’re wondering, how can Aven bake without arms or hands? Not to worry. Aven has already had lots of practice, even though she’s only eight.
“…when I crack eggs, I crack them
with my feet. And when I measure sugar and
flour, I measure them with my feet.”
Aven is strong and confident, so much so that she’s sometimes convinced that her way is the best way even when the deal was that each of the girls would share a recipe and the dessert with the most votes would be the one they would enter into the contest.
Of course, Aven is certain that her mint chocolate chip pie will win. But when she refuses to try Kayla’s raisin clafouti, even though the clafouti gets the most votes, Aven finds she has both disappointed her mom and made her friends angry enough to ignore her at school the next day.
Though she apologizes, the girls have already come to a decision – “… we don’t want you to enter the contest with us anymore.”
“But why?” I said, starting to cry again even though I really didn’t want to.
“Because you’re too difficult,” said Emily. “It’s your way or nothing.”
Eventually the kids work things out, but not without learning some important life lessons.
I love the realism of the relationships. And the way Aven and her friends – including Ren, another friend, who agrees he’ll partner with her to make his mom’s steamed bean cake recipe – figure out, not only how to work together, but also the importance of trying new things, celebrating others, and being willing to admit when you’re wrong.
The AVEN GREEN chapter books, based on Dusti Bowling’s popular “cactus” books for older readers (Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus and Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus), will make a welcome addtion to a home or school library.
- Read these informative interviews with the author about her research when writing about a character with a limb difference:
- Know some kids who like to draw? Check out illustrator Gina Perry’s (free, downloadable) How-To-Draw pages!
