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Two orphan siblings with truly terrible luck battle an evil celebrity chef in this "bitingly humorous and appealingly weird" (Publishers Weekly) illustrated middle grade romp in the vein of A Series of Unfortunate Events.
It's hard to imagine things could get worse after one's parents die in a greenhouse explosion. But that is precisely what happens to Basil and his younger sister, Dahlia. They escape from the social worker who wants to split them up to different foster homes by jumping off a moving train, only to find themselves wounded (Dahlia) and bedraggled (Basil) and without a soul to care for them. What's more, they're lost in the wilds of New York City.
Famished and alone, they wander into Cravings, the delectable bakery owned by Laurel Fox, disgraced celebrity chef with a soft spot for poor, hungry orphans. When she offers them luxurious accommodations and all the éclairs they can eat, Basil and Dahlia dare to hope their luck has changed at last. But the savvy reader will know it can't be as simple as all that! Laurel Fox is out for redemption, and she'll do anything to get the sinister secret ingredient she requires. Joy McCullough writes books and plays from her home in the Seattle area, where she lives with her husband and two children. She is the author of the middle grade novels Across the Pond, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, Not Starring Zadie Louise, Code Red, Kestrel Takes Flight, and Basil & Dahlia, as well as the middle grade series Team Awkward, and the picture books Harriet's Ruffled Feathers, Champ and Major: First Dogs, and The Story of a Book. Her debut novel Blood Water Paint was longlisted for the National Book Award and was a William C. Morris Debut Award Finalist. Visit her at JoyMcCullough.com.
It's hard to imagine things could get worse after one's parents die in a greenhouse explosion. But that is precisely what happens to Basil and his younger sister, Dahlia. They escape from the social worker who wants to split them up to different foster homes by jumping off a moving train, only to find themselves wounded (Dahlia) and bedraggled (Basil) and without a soul to care for them. What's more, they're lost in the wilds of New York City.
Famished and alone, they wander into Cravings, the delectable bakery owned by Laurel Fox, disgraced celebrity chef with a soft spot for poor, hungry orphans. When she offers them luxurious accommodations and all the éclairs they can eat, Basil and Dahlia dare to hope their luck has changed at last. But the savvy reader will know it can't be as simple as all that! Laurel Fox is out for redemption, and she'll do anything to get the sinister secret ingredient she requires. Joy McCullough writes books and plays from her home in the Seattle area, where she lives with her husband and two children. She is the author of the middle grade novels Across the Pond, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, Not Starring Zadie Louise, Code Red, Kestrel Takes Flight, and Basil & Dahlia, as well as the middle grade series Team Awkward, and the picture books Harriet's Ruffled Feathers, Champ and Major: First Dogs, and The Story of a Book. Her debut novel Blood Water Paint was longlisted for the National Book Award and was a William C. Morris Debut Award Finalist. Visit her at JoyMcCullough.com.
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Reviews
Matthew Lloyd Davies's British accent blends surprisingly well with this story of two young American orphans. Listeners meet shrewd Basil and Dahlia Bloom, who hop off a freight train to avoid ending up in separate foster homes. When they find themselves lost in New York City, Gutsy Dahlia implores celebrity baker Laurel Fox for help. Fox is Davies's best creation. Davies playfully addresses liste
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