This book made me cry. Which really isn't a good thing because I do a lot of reading while on the treadmill at the gym.

This is the story of Jingwen and his little brother, Yanghao, who have just moved with their widowed mother from China to Mars. Well, actually, it's Australia but it is close enough in Jingwen's mind. That is, until he realizes it's not everyone else who is an alien: he is.

Jingwen struggles with learning English and making friends at school, despite his mother's assurances that he would do well with both. While watching Yanghao one day while their mother is at work, the boys decide to make a cake. Not just any cake. A Pie in the Sky Cake, like the ones their father wanted to bake in his very own cake shop, part of his dreaming of moving to Australia. The only problem? Their mother doesn't want them to bake while she's gone. So they start baking in secret. Jingwen is determined to bake all of the Pie in the Sky Cakes. Because maybe then he can make his father's dream come true. Because maybe then he can stop feeling guilt over his father's death.

A brilliant tale of growing up, feeling like an outsider, and cake, Pie in the Sky is a beautifully written and illustrated book that readers of all ages and walks of life will love.

Interesting treatment for a book that kind of reminded me of Grace Lin's Year of the Dog series when I opened it, so I picked this up from NetGalley. The pictures and graphic novel treatment were fine. Very common story theme of new kids adjusting to school.

3.5 stars

Interest Level: 3-6

Imagine that you have to move to another country and you do not speak the language. How hard would it be to make friends? Eleven-year-old Jingwen is facing this exact situation. Jingwen, his mom, and his annoying little brother, Yanghao, are moving to Australia and they do not speak English very well. It was a dream of Jingwen's dad to move to Australia and open up a fancy bakery but he passed away unexpectedly before they could move. Jingwen's mom decided to go ahead with the move, and so they did. Jingwen feels like he is on Mars and is very frustrated trying to learn the language. He is not doing well in school or at making friends. He is even more frustrated when Yanghao seems to be picking up the language and making a friend. The only thing that makes Jingwen happy is baking, and he wants to make the twelve specialty cakes that his father wanted to make when they moved. The problem is, Jingwen's mom works in the late afternoon and night so Jingwen has to watch his little brother after school. His mom will not let him cook while she is gone because it could be too dangerous. Jingwen and Yanghao decide it is worth the sneaking around and lying because they are both so happy when they are baking. The problem is, all the lying begins to catch up with them and when an accident happens, the truth comes out. Will Jingwen be able to make all of the cakes in memory of his dad? Will he ever learn how to speak English? Will he ever make a true friend? Or will he always feel like he lives on Mars? This is a great heart-wrenching story of love, loss, and finding ones self.

This was really a great story about not fitting in and the feeling of not belonging. All of the emotions that Jingwen go through will really pull at your heartstrings. It seems like everything is going against Jingwen and just when you think it can't get any worse for him, things go to a whole new level of low. I love the resilience and determination of Jingwen despite the odds against him. I also love how Remi Lai developed the character of Yanghao. At the beginning of the story I wanted spank the stew out of him, but as the story develops, so does he, and he becomes a kid that you love. This is just an all around great story with great characters. Don't miss this one!

This is a brilliant middle grade novel that illustrates perfectly what it feels like to be a new kid. Not only just a new kid but a new kid moving to a new country that doesn't know the language well yet. This is an important read for middle grade readers.

I read about half of this book before putting it down because it became too repetitive. I also probably wasn't ready for another middle-grade book. I love the premise, though: an older kid with an annoying little brother, coping with losing a father too soon, plus adapting to American society where a lot is promised but a lot of hardship goes with it. I would give it 3.5/5 stars.

PIE IN THE SKY was an incredibly moving, wonderful, and perfect book. I LOVED Jingwing and Yanghao and their family. I loved reading about their cake making adventures. I desperately craved cake afterwards and must warn any reader that this book will make you not only want cake but NEED cake.

I also was touched by the immigrant experience that the book explored. I think this is an important book to read in schools and showcase at libraries, hopefully to share the experience that some kids have when emigrating to a new country and learning a new language, especially now when immigration is in the news. I think that it was beautifully written and hopefully will have a positive impact for younger readers who may not have experienced it.

Funny and adorable, this book is sure to find its way on many reading lists this year. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this, it was wonderful.

This book is so deliciously sweet and tender and delightful. The illustrations are brilliant and the characters are so well-drawn. A wonderful look at grief and the challenges of learning a new language in a new country. I loved every second of it.

Pie in the Sky is about two brothers, Jingwen and Yangho, who move to Australia after the death of their father and must learn to navigate school and the English language. Jingwen, the older brother, seeks solace in secretly baking the cakes that he used to make with his dad for his dad's future bakery, "Pie in the Sky."
This book was unexpectedly poignant while still maintaining its humor. The relationship between the brothers was believable, and Jingwen's struggles with English and imagining everyone around him as a Martian was memorable and resonant. The book provides a great window into the struggle of English Language Learners while skillfully exploring the loss of a parent. Highly recommend for any reader of realistic fiction.

I liked parts of this book--the grief of both Jingwen and his mother really comes through and the graphic novel style inserts will be appealing to a lot of kids. But this wasn’t enough to make the book list worthy. The word booger is used what feels like THOUSANDS of times and the feeling like an alien because you don’t speak the language has been done before. There are lots of immigrant stories and there have been better than this one.

I was lucky enough to read an ARC from Macmillan via NetGalley. This realistic fiction middle grade debut book smoothly includes graphic novel within the text passages. The coming-of-age story is humorous, sad, and endearing. 11 year-old Jingwen is moving to Australia with his mom and 9 year-old brother and everyone is speaking alien. Jingwen is struggling to both make friends and keep up in school. His mom and brother are adapting much easier and better able to communicate using English. Jingwen is also still grieving the passing of his father, a baker, who wanted to open up his own shop in Australia. The brothers start secretly making their fathers famous Pie in the Sky cakes after school while mom is at work. It is the one thing that gives a Jingwen as sense of place. It is a fun game for his spastic younger brother and they keep a list of rules to make sure everything goes smoothly.

This story feels genuine. The illustrations show how “alien” Jingwen feels when others are talking to fast around him or how he feels when people have to talk “s l o w” just for him. There are the things Jingwen wants to say and what he actually says. He feels kids are talking about him, but he also can’t understand them entirely. Jingwen’s relationship with his excitable brother works well and makes for humorous passages. The mother is a well established authority figure, who is keeping everything together, yet still grieving herself. Overall, a highly recommended immigrant story about family and grief that won’t be overwhelming for readers ages 8-12. Easy to recommend.

This book is a wonderful exploration of how isolated immigrants can feel in a new culture. Jingwen and Yanghao have a typical brotherly relationship that is strained when their mother moves the family to a new country after the death of their father. The brothers turn to baking to help ease their grief and adjustment to a new culture. This book is very heartwarming and sweet. The humor and illustrations will appeal to many middle grade readers. Highly recommend for most collections.

A sweet, heartbreaking story about a boy and his brother who move to Australia and must learn to navigate a new language, a new culture, and life without their beloved father. The illustrations are wonderful, and the growth of the main character as he bakes his cakes and (reluctantly) learns English is wonderful as well.

I can see my students falling in love with this book just like I did! I felt such anger and frustration for the character who was learning how to speak English. My heart was breaking as I read how they left their home to follow the dreams his father had before he died. This is a great book!

Initially I thought this would be a graphic novel but it is a chapter book with a fair amount of illustrations. It was wonderful! Middle school boy moves to Australia after losing his father. There is plenty of adjusting to do but especially learning a new language. His younger brother learns English quickly which adds to the frustration. The story is excellent and makes the reader really sympathize but it is also very funny. I'd recommend it to middle school kids that like a story with lots of humor thrown in.

A very interesting story that was not able to sustain my attention for the totality of the narrative. An admirable attempt.

Jingwen is dealing with difficult changes in his life, most particularly a move to Australia nearly two years after the death of his father. Australia may as well be Mars, as he is surrounded by people speaking a language he is struggling to understand. His one comfort is making cakes, which brings back memories of baking with his father. In secret, he and his younger brother Yanghao work their way through the "Pie In the Sky" cake recipes that Jingwen and his father had made together.

This is a sweet story that is both emotional and humorous. Jingwen's emotional struggles are intertwined with entertaining interactions with his younger brother, who adjusts to their new life with more ease than Jingwen has.

A variety of readers will be able to relate to this story, including those who are facing the many changes that Jingwen is dealing with throughout the book.

By the end of Pie in the Sky, I found myself wiping away tears. The relationship between the two brothers felt so real, from the incessant fighting to being the only other person you trust with secrets. Loved it.

This illustrated novel follows two brothers and their mother as they move from China and adjust to life in Australia. Their father was a baker before he passed away, and in Australia the boys decide to recreate his dream of cooking fancy cakes. I really liked the way the baking sequences were incorporated into the story and the symbolism that they had for Jingwen, who remembered cooking the recipes with his father. I also really appreciated how the boys' lives were not sugarcoated, and the story included the hard parts of learning a language and the mother's difficult work hours.

I had two, fairly minor, complaints with the book: first, I thought it took too long for the plot to pick up, and too much time was spent at the beginning of the book laying the scene of the family's life in China and their move. All of this information was important later on, but I worry that the slow start will keep many child readers from getting to the heart of the story. Second, I don't like that the book is being listed as a graphic novel. There are more illustrations than most middle grade books and they do help convey dialogue and plot developments, but any reader who picks this up thinking it is a graphic novel (as I did!) will be disappointed. It's much closer to the format that books such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries take.

Overall, I think this is a great read that readers will love with the right push.

Jingwen and Yanghao definitely should be thrown in the list of relatable and hilarious sibling duos. I think their relationship and the dynamics between them in moving to such a drastically new place, navigating school, and culture (and language acquisition!!), really provided the perfect light to see these brothers in.

This book has so many elements done well. For me, I felt the first half is okay, while the half is much stronger and picked up the pace. I will also say that I expected this to be a graphic novel (and I still think it would be its most amazing self as a graphic novel... ) so initially I was thrown off and disappointed by that. That being said, the mixed format worked as the text went on and provided an additional window into the brother’s characters.

Pie in the Sky is poignant and relevant, illustrating an immigration experience that differs even between two brothers and the challenges that come with that. However it is also fun, there are moments of joy, tons of great baking moments (loads of cake!), and kind people make their way into the boy’s lives as life happens.

I think this one would be awesome in middle grade classrooms as a no brainer choice to provide a connection to any gender, and for kids with a range of interests / experiences.

Can’t wait to see how this one is received by kids!

Thank you Netgalley for this digital arc.

What can I say? I adored this book with every fiber of my being. This middle grade book grabs you from page one and holds on to you tightly across each page. The characters are so well-written, each of their voices unique and layered. While the storyline is simple, it was so refreshing—funny, sweet, and sad. The illustrations added a really neat touch to the story, and I can’t tell you how I excited I was to reach the very last pages. Cake time!

This is a must read, great for grades 3-6, and would make an excellent read aloud as well.