Eggs over Evie

by Alison Jackson, Tuesday Mourning (Illustrator)

Twelve-year-old Evie Carson lives with her mom. In an apartment across the lake, Evie's celebrity-chef dad is starting a new life with his young second wife, Angie, who's expecting twins. To make matters worse, Evie's dad has custody of the beloved family dog. Navigating her new family situation is difficult, and Evie turns to her love of cooking as a way to stay connected to her father. Through cooking classes, Evie finds an unexpected friend in Corey, whose eccentric aunt Shanti might be able to make everyone a little happier. Evie learns to look outside herself, help others, and make friends where she never thought she could (she also learns to make a pretty darn good soufflé!).

Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Juvenile, Contemporary, Divorce, Childrens

224 pages, Hardcover

First published November 9, 2010

Reviews

[Leah Beecher · Rating 5 out of 5]

My eleven-year-old daughter wrote the following review:
I loved this book and read all 213 pages in one day. In the book Evie’s parents got a divorce and she has to deal with that. She loved to cook was enrolled into cooking classes which she loved. What made me enjoy this book so much is that animals are a large part of Evie’s life; myself as an animal lover enjoyed reading that . Another reason is that there are recipes included in each chapter based on what Evie’s cooked or baked. The book is a very amazing and you should try it out!

[Sofia A.]

I am really enjoying this book. It is about this girl who loves to cook and her parents were divorced. To me cooking is the best thing in the world. I usually love to cook with my mom and my sister. In the story her dog was taken by her dad when her parents split. She misses her dog so much. I can relate to that because one time my dad went on a trip and he took my dog with him. I remembered that I missed my dog so much. In the story she says she goes to a cooking class and she learns how to cook a lot better. Her cooking partner is the cooking teachers nephew. I once went to an art class and my partner was the teachers daughter. In this book her mom teaches piano to the blind. Evie also helps work for the person next door. Her name is ms.H. And her cat just died so Evie has to take care of her because she Is so sad because that cat was the only cat she had and wanted. I can relate to that because my cat just died and it was very hard for my family to adjust to this new change. Evie said that she loves to bake cookies with her friend . I remember once I made homemade cookies with my friend and they were so good. To me this book is very good. I love all the details this book has. I don't like how Evie doesn't like her cooking partner at first. I wish she would get along. Overall this book is amazing and I think everyone should read it.

[Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thirteen-year-old Evie is spending her summer vacation trying to deal with her parents recent divorce and her father's remarriage, by throwing herself into a cooking class at the local rec center. Her father is a famous local chef, and she developed her love of food and the kitchen through him. While there is not much plot to the story, the characters are realistic and well-developed. I think the intended audience will enjoy the book, but had a few problems with it, mainly because I'm not sure the concept really worked as well as it should have. The book was set up to include a recipe and cooking tip at the end of every chapter, but while the book's audience is defintiely middle-grade readers the recipes are quite advanced. I was hoping for recipes that would actually be tackle-able by the girls this book is aimed for, but chapter 1's recipe was for an omlette souffle. A bit of a disappointment. ~s

[swiftpuppy13 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eggs Over Evie
By: Alison Jackson
------------------------------------------------------------
Summary:
13 year old Evie Carson's parents are divorced. She lives with her mother, although she visits her dad often. Evie loves cooking, a hobby passed down from her chef father. This book is for girls who love to cook, love books about hard times, love animals and parents are divorced. •There are also 16 recipes included in this book that I have yet to try.

Rating: 5/5
Fave Character: Evie! We are alike in a lot of ways and she is truly is a great character.
-I loved how the author included recipes. I have yet to try to make one.

[Christina Durrstein · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just read a wonderful book, Eggs Over Evie by Alison Jackson. The story begins with a girl that loved to bake. The best parts of the story are when her dad comes to visit, when she finally makes a right souffle and when her dad moves to town. The main character is Evie. She is loving and kind. I liked this book because I like to cook too. If you like books about cooking or sadness then I recommend you read this book.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is almost as light and fluffy as Evie's souffle. Even though it deals with the divorce of Evie's parents and the death of the neighbor's cat, it was overall positive and upbeat. Each chapter ends in a recipe and we made the pecan chocolate chip cookies which were delicious!

[Winter Bayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 9 year old is liking this book. She is into the recipes sprinkled through out the story.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evie is having trouble dealing with changes. Her parents are divorced. Her dad has remarried and has a new baby on the way. Her neighbor has lost her cat. Her mom is dating. And she is going to cooking class and crushing on her cooking partner. Is she ready for any of this?

I enjoyed this book. I liked the recipes and Evie's advice to make the recipes the best they can be. Watching Evie deal with all the changes in her life gives her a universality to which I could relate . None of us like changes, especially when the change is outside of our control. Seeing Evie and Corey together was fun. It reminded me of my crushes at that age. An enjoyable book to curl up with on a summer night.

[Adelina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this with Rosalina-10 years old. We signed up for our libraries book club and this was August’s read. Little did we know how real to life this would become as I began my separation from my husband. I worried that perhaps this would not be the best book for us to read at this time. So I did a pre-read, and my mind was changed. This was exactly the book we needed for this time.

We loved the little quotes from real chefs at the beginning of each chapter, and the included recipes (still need to try some out).

We also loved that it talked about big feelings the main character, a child, is experiencing in a “broken” family. In the end though, while her parents don’t get back together, she finds how to be happy in her new life.

[Anna Nguyen · Rating 5 out of 5]

THIS BOOK was my favorite throughout fifth grade. I loved it so much that when I won a library giveaway in 6th grade, this was the first book I chose.

The recipes included are relevant to the story line, and it stands out to readers. The story itself is really good (especially since the fact that it’s an elementary-level book). From a *9 year old perspective* this book is easy to read BUT still so interesting. There’s a lot of details and valuable lessons. Definitely recommend!

I remember at every library visit during elementary, I would just recheck this book over and over again just to keep it by me. That’s how much I loved it.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't really like what was going on in the book, but a bit of it was interesting. I thought it was a little bit boring, in my opinion I didn't like it.

[Inoli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this. She did a very nice job. I liked Rainmaker a lot too.

[Azea Tutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eggs over Evie is a great book. Gives you little recipes to read as well and taking you on an adventure with Evie through her life.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aspiring chef Evie has - excuse this pun - a lot on her plate. Her parents are divorced, and her TV chef father's new wife is expecting twins, she's enrolled in a cooking class where she's partnered with the instructor's nephew, and her mother has started dating. She also misses her dog, who lives with her dad, and spends much of her time helping her elderly next door neighbor look for a cat who is not coming home. This short novel tells the story of how Evie overcomes her negative feelings about the past so that she and her mother can both begin preparing for a more hopeful future.

Each chapter of the book has a title that is also a cooking term (Simplification, Moderation, Composition, etc.) and begins with a quotation from a famous chef. Included between chapters are recipes and cooking tips from Evie. (One such tip reads, "To test a cake's doneness, poke it with a piece of raw spaghetti. If it comes out dry, the cake is done!") Some of the recipes are directly connected to the events of the story - things Evie cooks at home or in class - but others felt like random selections. I'll admit that I only skimmed the recipe pages, since they're pretty dry reading. The only thing I made sure to read in each one was the cooking tip, because many of them were actually really helpful hints.

The text of the actual story, however, was a pleasure to read. There aren't many children's novels about kids who like to cook, so it undoubtedly fills a gap for girls who aspire to be chefs themselves. The story is also great for animal lovers, as it includes both dogs and cats, and really emphasizes the importance of pets to their families. Evie's feelings and worries regarding her parents' divorce and her new stepmother's efforts to befriend her were very honest, and I think children in divorced families will see themselves in her character. There is also just a hint of romance for Evie, as she gets to know her cooking partner, and that thread of the plot resolves itself on a very sweet note, with a little bit of an "awww" moment.

I really like Alison Jackson's writing style, and I love Tuesday Mourning's illustrations of the book, particularly the cover. I love the way she draws faces, and I recognized her work immediately from Kylie Jean, Blueberry Queen by Marci Peschke.

Eggs Over Evie is Alison Jackson's most recent novel, but she has written many others. To learn more about her writing, visit http://www.alison-jackson.com.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Here I was, stuck between both families again and not sure where I fit in." Evie is navigating the choppy waters of change. First, her Mom and Dad have recently divorced and Dad has even taken Mousse, her beloved dog, with him. He quickly marries Angie. Evie doesn't know how to deal with a stepmother who wants to be her friend. "I have enough friends." To make things more weird, Evie's Mom is starting to date. How strange does that make Evie feel? Meanwhile, Mrs. Hamilton, the next-door-neighbor that Evie helps out, loses her cat to a traffic accident. A difficult adjustment for both Mrs. H and Evie. Evie's solace through all this upheaval is cooking. She wants to be a chef some day like her father, but she isn't very good. So she enrolls in a cooking course at the rec center to improve her skills. It is here that she meets Corey (her cooking partner) and Shanti, the teacher: two people who will help her deal with the changes in her life in a positive way. But just as things start to feel more normal, another huge change: Dad announces that he and his new wife are expecting a baby. "Nothing stays simple. Especially in the kitchen."

Includes recipes at the end of each chapter and helpful cooking hints, as well. A good story for students who are struggling with changes in their lives. Evie has setbacks, but eventually adjusts to the changes in her life.

[Lora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, Cute, Cute. That's the best way to describe this little J book. I picked it up because I read a review for it saying that after every chapter there was a recipe relating to what Evie cooked in the story and that really intrigued me. It turns out all the recipes are very easy and most kids could do them with a little parental help and they include everything from eggs to dessert to chicken.

This is the story of Evie. It's the summer after middle school and she's thirteen years old. Her parents got divorced a little over a year ago and now her dad (a famous celebrity chef) is remarried to a younger woman...oh and that younger woman, she's pregnant. Evie is struggling to find peace with the fact that her dad is starting over with a new family. She wants to support her mom, but wants to continue to love her dad.

Jackson does a good job of incorporating a lot of different themes without being too preachy. This isn't a book about cooking, or divorce, or finding a new puppy, or coping with a cranky neighbor, or deciding if you like that boy...it has all these elements intertwined to make a nice little tale.

Great for elementary girls. Middle school girls would think it's a little young for them, but they might enjoy the cooking and recipe elements as I did.

[Ubalstecha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evie's life is complicated. Her parents have divorced. Her father, a TV chef, has met and married a new woman who is about to have a baby. Her mother, a piano teacher, is starting to date again. This leaves Evie in the middle.

Desperate for her father's approval, takes a cooking course at the local community center over the summer. Their she learns about cooking, but also about life and choices. And how to live within this new situation.

What I loved about this book was how real Evie's emotions around divorce were. She still loves her father, but is angry that he left her behind and took the dog. Evie desperately wants his attention, but is terrified about the arrival of a new baby. At the same time, her mother starting to date leaves her feeling that she is about to be abandoned by the only parent she has left.

Children of divorce will see themselves in this book. Parents who are divorcing should read this book too in order to understand what kind of stresses divorce puts on children.

Good book.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started reading this book and almost stopped. It seemed cheesy with a cooking quote to begin each chapter and a recipe at the end of each. I'm glad I gave it a chance to grow on me though. Alison Jackson has created a book that will connect with our kids and young readers. Evie is struggling with her parents divorce, father's remarriage and the twins his new wife will birth very soon. Her father is a famous, local TV chef/personality, and Evie loves to cook as well. In this book Evie improves her cooking, makes some important new friends, deals with Mom's first date after divorce, and deals with the mortality we all face. Life is full of change and discomfort, and maybe that is why food is so comforting. Alison Jackson makes a great connection between the two in this book, and I know it will speak to many of our students. I remember, too, that they are fascinated with cooking!! They will love this book, and it will be on my first order list for the library this year.

[Jen Mech · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being someone who loves to cook, and watch others cook, I really enjoyed the concept and setup of this book. The characters were well developed for such a short book, and Evie was so lovable. I will definitely recommend this book to middle schoolers, and will even use for my foodies display in March. As much as I loved the book, however, in the last couple of chapters I felt the writer or editor dropped the ball. Time was mentioned every few paragraphs, and what was one week turned into two weeks, and then what should have been in the past was still to come. It actually made me stop and think about the writing; not what you want from Tween fiction. Like I said, I still enjoyed the book, and would definitely recommend it to kids at my library, but it is this reason that I did not give the book five stars. Also, I can't wait to try some of the included recipes.

[Phoebe · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best recent realistic fiction books I've read, this is narrated by 12-year-old Evie, daughter of a famous chef and a budding chef herself. She is constantly cooking, experimenting and inventing in the kitchen. But when she signs up for a cooking class at the community center, she discovers that she still has plenty to learn--and she also finds a little first romance with Corey, her rather unforthcoming, even grumpy cooking partner. Meanwhile at home, Evie (and her mother) is trying to get used to the idea that her father is about to become a father again--to twins--and to her new stepmother. The pain of family breakups is dealt with honestly and gently by Jackson, a strong writer. Chapters are headed by pithy quotations from well-known chefs, and recipes are sprinkled throughout. A surprisingly good new juvenile fiction book, recommended for 5th and 6th graders.

[Lexi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no words for how much I adore this book, it's well written and tells an average story of a young girl who's parents are divorced.
Now she must learn the ropes of having a new step mom and siblings on the way; for Evie (the teenager/ main character) this doesn't go real smooth and easy in the begging; but I don't think she expected that.
Evie; just like her father, wants to grow up to be a chef or at least want to learn how to cook well. In order to do so Evie joins a Summer cooking class at the rec center , where she finds a gone and lost her brains who used to be tv show chef, and a dreamy boy with "passionate eyes that are like big crystal blue pools of water".
All in all Evie soon learns to help and learn new things about people she tries, or tried to block out.
In the end Evie gains a family.

[Bridget R. Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cooking is Evie's way of dealing with her parents' divorce. Her dad is a foodie--he has his own show. Cooking allows Evie to remain close to him while dealing with his departure from her everyday life and all the subsequent changes his absence created. Cooking lessons lead to more than Evie could have hoped for--new friends, new pets, and even a reconciliation with her dad.

What I thought: I liked Eggs Over Evie. The book deals with tough issues but manages to remain lighthearted. Evie is a likable character. Her interactions with Mrs. Hamilton and Corey were great. The cooking was nice. I can't resist a food book. Eggs Over Evie will appeal to tween girls. My favorite recipe was Evie's Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pecans & Coconut.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Evie's family shrinks from four - Dad, Mom, Evie and Mousse the dog - to only Evie and her mother. Eventually, however it expands to include Dad, Angie (her stepmother), elderly Mrs. Hamilton next door and few little surprises as well.

Evie takes after her father who is a celebrity chef. She loves to cook and since Mom doesn't that leaves Evie free to experiment in the kitchen. Each chapter concludes with a recipe, many of which kids will want to try for themselves.

This is an enjoyable quick read about a young teen coping with the divorce of her parents as well as the remarriage of her father.

[Kristin R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evie is thirteen and still adjusting to her parents divorce. She and her mom are both lonely and her Dad is very busy with his new wife. He even has their family dog, Mousse. Since she just got out of school for the summer, Evie who loves to cook, has signed up for a six-week cooking class. Sometimes she takes her food creations to her grumpy next door neighbor, Mrs. Hamilton. She is really excited about her class, but the teacher is a little quirky and she gets paired up with a boy who doesn’t seem to like her very much. It seems like it might be a long and hot summer. Evie includes cooking tips and recipes in this book.

[Danielle Benich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was adorable. Kyle set a goal to read all the Hoosier books this year, and this was his second-to-last book to read. He has asked me to read several of them so far, and I said I would read this one ONLY if it did NOT make me cry! He assured me that I was good with this one. It was a sweet book about a girl who is learning to adjust to her parent's earlier divorce and her father's remarriage and all the subsequent changes in her life. Cooking is an important part of her life and each chapter ends with an actual recipe and some fun cooking tips. I'm going to want to try a few of these recipes, and I learned a few things with their cooking tips. :-)

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

As others have pointed out, this book is cute. Evie, coping with her parents' recent divorce, her father's remarriage, and her impending step-siblings, throws herself into cooking and neighborly niceness. There's a crotchety neighbor, a strangely absent best friend, a cute cooking partner, and a few pets. Nothing much happens, nothing much is resolved, but there's a sense of progress and learning to accept life as it changes and reshapes family connections.

The action lacks a certain amount of continuity, but the recipes at the end of each chapter look intriguing.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

A heart-felt story about a girl coming to terms with her parents’ divorce and her new stepmother and soon-to-be half-sibling. The chapters each end with a recipe since Evie’s father is a famous food critic/chef and Evie wants to be like him. This would be a good story to share with a girl who is experiencing divorce or who loves food/cooking. It would also be a good story for a girl who enjoys family stories especially ones about family dynamics rather than stories about large families.

[Mrs. Domion · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evie's parents are divorced and her dad has a way younger wife who is pregnant with twins. Evie feels like her dad has left her house empty. She's not sure if she's ready for her mom to start dating. She loves to cook, but may not be very good at it and meets a boy at cooking class. A quick and short read that covers the feelings of a normal girl going through her parents divorce and trying to come to terms with loyalty to her mom and love of her dad.

[Makayla Partin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love this book because I could feel what evie could feel. Also I really love how the book went from happy to cheerful to sad back to happy and start all over again. I love books that do that for some reason. At first when I got the book from the library I wasn't sure I wanted to read it because it just seemed like it would be weird but I loved it. Any way if you haven't read the book yet I suggest you read it because it's awesome.

[Tracie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Evie's parents have divorced and she is sad. This is the story of Evie coming to terms with change that she doesn't really embrace. Because Evie's father is a famous chef and she is trying to impress him with her cooking skills, each chapter begins with a recipe. I made the brownies from the recipe in the book and they were a hit at my house.