Loved this book for young readers. It's challenging, adventurous, and overall endearing. Looking forward to recommending this!

A fun, quirky, delightful story! A popular section of my school library is the cookbooks. I know my students will love reading about Zoey’s foodie adventures as much as I did.

What a fun read. Twelve-year-old Zoey Kate has everything it takes to be a great chef but her own restaurant—and after savvily negotiating her first business loan, she’s about to have that restaurant, too.

Plucky, precocious Zoey Kate is lots of fun, and her imaginative dishes (including cinnamon-bacon octopus pho, fried banana fondue and the titular chocolate pork chops) may well inspire some ambitious kitchen projects. The set-up—which requires you to believe that a tween can land a $50,000 bank loan pretty much on her own—is ridiculous and don’t get me started on the lack of insurance for Zoey Kate’s working trolley restaurant—but go with it—the story’s fun enough to suspend your disbelief. I’d pass this spunky story on to late elementary readers who can’t get enough Masterchef Junior.

This was a fun, fast paced and well written read! Just right for grade school kids, especially those who enjoy cooking! This little girl is an unstoppable force! Not a very realistic story, but I don't think any young kids is going to think about that or let it ruin their enjoyment of the story! If you have a young chef in training in your life- get them a copy!
I'm a fan of mole sauce on chicken. It may well taste excellent on chops! Nearly, forgot! There is a recipe at the end of the book a child and parent may want to try if they are adventurous!

My son (11) wasn't a fan. Got off to a "boring start".

Right now, I am about halfway through the book. I will be coming back to update once I am finished.

In short, this is by far one of the best middle-grade books I have read up to this point in my life.
SUCH a strong beginning - the humor pulled me in and had me laughing right off the bat to the point where I just wanted to keep going. The main character is SO loveable and fun and inventive!
I love it so far, and highly doubt I will find an instance where I am the slightest bit disappointed.

What a fun children's read! With a precocious, bold heroine, some wacky side characters and a mile-a-minute plot, this is a great tale to entice children to get lost in a book this summer. While some of the chef references might be a bit unfamiliar to non-juvenile foodies, you might find your own kiddo inspired to get into the kitchen as well.

The execution of the story is well done, overall, the story is good and entertaining. Those who like fast paced action and adventure will enjoy this read.

I received this book complimentary from NetGalley for my honest review.

This book is a fun romp in the kitchen which will leave you salivating and your taste buds screaming. It has friendship, recipes, and of course the proverbial right vs wrong, good vs evil lesson. Enjoy!

Finally! A book for older kids about a character their age that loves to cook! Kids will love the passion and moxie that shine through as Zoey Kate reaches for the culinary stars!
Twelve-year-old Zoey Kate is a cooking prodigy in her hometown of San Francisco. Through some quick talking and pretty fantastic cooking, Zoey is able to secure a bank loan to fund her dream of opening her own restaurant. With the help of her best friend Dallin, her musician parents, and a wacky cast of supporting characters, Zoey winds her way through the ups and downs of the restaurant business. As she strives to follow her passion and prove that she’s the best chef in San Francisco, she learns that the friendships and relationships that help get you to the top are more important than any restaurant critic’s review.
With its extremely strong characters and well-written dialogue, kids will immediately be swept up into Zoey Kate’s world, where they’ll never want to leave. Fantastically vivid descriptions of her cooking will transport them to her kitchen where they’ll want to taste her delectable and innovative dishes!
I personally have a 12 year old and a television that is locked onto Food Network and The Cooking Channel. After reading this book, I couldn’t wait to recommend it to her. For kids that feel like outsiders because they don’t play sports, Zoey Kate is a character that they can identify with and feel like they’re not so alone in their love of cooking. This book goes beyond the standard cutesy cupcake club books in its use of sophisticated culinary terms and language that kids hear everyday on their favorite cooking shows. The author deftly describes Zoey’s cooking in a way that doesn’t talk down to older kids and recognizes and respects their astuteness of the culinary world.
Thank you, Ryan K. Sager. I can’t wait to read about what adventures await Zoey Kate in her next book!

This very funny middle grade fiction book is sure to be a hit with kids-you've got an action packed mystery, funny characters, AND awesome cooking.

Cute story with a fun ending. Kids who enjoy cooking will enjoy this the most. Will recommend this to students in grade 3-5.

This book was hilarious. It had me laughing from the first page. Zoey is such a quirky character. Following her adventure was really fun. I loved that different food cultures are talked about and that we get to explore some of San Fransisco. This book is full of unique and imaginative characters.

This book would be great for children as it teaches them to dream big and that anything is possible if you work hard for it. It also shows us the importance of friendship. As an adult this book will let your inner child run free. I like that recipes are included at the end, especially one for chocolate-covered pork chops.

Overall, it's a great read that any child who loves food will enjoy.

Zoey is such a fantastic cook that she has people buying food from her at her family home. Her parents, Valentine and Gershwin, are jazz musicians who give her a lot of space to do her own thing, and they are willing to cosign a $50,000 loan for her with Miss Lemon so she can open her own restaurant. She goes looking for locations, only to find one in Chinatown across from her idol, Chef Kung Pao. She meets the famous chef, but he tells her she can't open up across from her, and even threatens her. She also meets with a friend and mentor, Chef Cannoli, who tells her that opening a restaurant is more about bookkeeping than cooking. Undaunted by lack of support or appropriate venue, Kacey, along with her best friend, Dallin, find an abandoned cable car and pay her friend Knuckles to fix it up and drive it. Someone is out to sabotage her as she competes for the Golden Toque, awarded by Royston Basil Boarhead. Will her fascinating food juxtapositions be enough to surmount the odds facing her?
Strengths: This had great descriptions of San Francisco, and great descriptions of food. It's over the top, of course-- no one is going to give a $50,000 loan to a child, and that's probably barely enough to open a restaurant these days. This was a fun but unlikely romp.
Weaknesses: I'm debating this one. It was too much of a suspension of disbelief for me. I almost wanted there to be magic, so it would explain how Kacey was able to do all that she did without ever going to school or her parents caring at all.
What I really think: If you have readers who like The Candy Makers, Bliss or All Four Stars, I'd buy this. I'm not sure I'll buy this, but I DO sort of want to try the chocolate covered pork chop recipe!

Zoey Kate is twelve-years-old and she's an adventurous chef combining things like chocolate and pork chops. So she's decided to take on some debt. Fifty thousand dollars to be exact. Why does she want to do this at such a young age? In order to win a prestigious cooking award. Adventures and mayhem ensue.
There was a lot of pop culture in this book. A lot. I'm not sure what felt off about this book for me but I felt a hard time connecting. It's possible that I'm not in (in fact, way out of) the age range this book is meant for but that doesn't usually bother me. Zoey was just a little too annoying, too perky, too sure of herself.

Two and a half stars
This book comes out June 20

Twelve-year-old Zoey Kate is a cooking prodigy, born with an innate skill to combine unlikely foods to create a mouth-watering, savory meal, young Zoey takes out a massive bank loan in order to open her own restaurant and compete against local, world-renowned chefs for a cooking award. Helping Zoey is her friend Dallin, a large, slow-witted, football-playing best friend. Not helping so much are Zoey's parents, jazz musicians who are mostly hands-off in her up-bringing, though they do co-sign her loan. Working against Zoey are local chefs who see her as a threat to their business and will stop at almost nothing to take the coveted prize in the up-coming competition.

This is a fast-paced adventure and so fitting that Zoey puts her restaurant on wheels (one of San Francisco's cable cars). The story moves quickly with a lot of ups and downs (again, so suitable for being in San Francisco) and the reader may just be breathless when finishing the book.

The key to the book, of course, is Zoey. She is the driving force (and I think 'force' is just the right word here) for everything that happens. As such, she is an original and outstanding character. The second most active figure is Dallin. Unlike Zoey, Dallin is a stereotype, which is too bad. He's the 'dumb jock with a heart of gold.' He is also easily manipulated which Zoey takes great advantage of, though she does come around to understanding that he's not just meat-muscle but does have feelings.

Although this is a short book, the second half of the book is much more interesting and attention-holding. Once the 'villain' is identified (and it happens the moment he tells Zoey she'd better not open a restaurant near him) and we learn about the contest, the story moves at breakneck speed and we can't help but be drawn in.

The first portion of the book, the set up and identifying of the characters, however, nearly had me quit reading.

Although Zoey is a cooking prodigy, what Zoey really has, in spades, is confidence. We start the book with her at the bank to get a very large loan so that she can open her own restaurant. Her confidence is so high that she (literally?) can not hear the word 'no.' She is precocious and over-the-top and not just a little bit annoying. It is tempting to say that she doesn't understand her own limitations (like many youngsters) but she actually HAS no limitations. Combined with her poor treatment of Dallin, she does not come off very nicely early on. Get her cooking, though, and she's much more fun.

Teens and 'Tweens reading this book will miss some of the adult elbow-nudges and winks. Zoey's parents are jazz musicians which surely must be the most bizarre and outrageous of occupations for the target reading audience, but people like me of course think it's pretty 'cool.' We adults will 'get' the names like 'Monk' and 'Gershwin' and 'Bird' we'll know why at least one of them is so very laid back. We'll also see the humor in names like Chef Cannoli and Kim Chi, though those, at least, we can explain.

Looking for a good book? Given the popularity of cooking programs on television there surely must be a market for food-related and cooking stories for kids and <em>The World's Greatest Chocolate-Covered Pork Chops</em> by Ryan Sager will fit right in. There's a lot here to enjoy and the ride is wild and raucous, but the rough start might turn readers off.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story with a lot of personality. The main character is a twelve-year-old chef with no lack of confidence. She has ambition and a complete lack of inhibition about taking on the culinary world of San Francisco. I think the best piece of this story is the clever wit and humor that permeates the entire story. Zoey is a child prodigy with driving ambition, but also a confident, unusually expressive personality.

She spars with other chefs and makes demands of many adults as though she expects to be taken seriously despite her youth. In that regard, she is a unique character. She wants to rise to the top of the culinary world, and she wants to do it her way, right away. Her parents are jazz musicians and her friends are an odd assortment of characters from oddballs to the unsavory tough guy with the sorted past who just can't say no. Though it's a subtle element, Zoey is also a child who is slowly developing social skills as she learns to prioritize human relationships above her passion when it is appropriate.

This is a story that children will surely read and love. The humor alone will provide sufficient appeal for many, though the plot, with its many twists and peculiarities is plenty engaging in its own right. Nicely written, and if you are wondering, there is an actual recipe for chocolate-covered pork chops at the end of the book.

I have many students who constantly check out cook books. I know that they would love this book as well. The main character's determination combined with a zest for life and talent for cooking make you cheer her on!

The book started off cracking me up. I love the bank application answers. Ha Ha! This would make a great cartoon. I could picture it in my head that way. Maybe a mix of Archie and Scooby Doo structure? I don't think some kids would get some of the jokes but who knows they are smarter these days. There are a lot of side remarks. The trolley restraunt is an awesome idea but the tragic end was full of excitement. Disclaimer and joke and recipes included.