The Great Peach Experiment 1: When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Peach Pie

by Erin Soderberg Downing

Overview

Mix together a used food truck, a road trip that doesn't exactly go as planned, and a lot of pie, and you have the recipe for this sweet middle grade series starter brimming with humor, heart, and a family you'll fall in love with. Perfect for readers who gobbled down The Penderwicks and The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street.

Sweet summer has taken a rotten turn . . .

After a tough year, Lucy, Freddy, and Herb Peach are ready for vacation. Lucy wants to read all of the books on the summer reading list. Freddy wants to work on his art projects (when he isn't stuck in summer school). Herb wants to swim every day.

Then their dad makes a big announcement: one of the inventions their mom came up with before she passed away has sold, and now they're millionaires!

But Dad has bigger plans than blowing the cash on fun stuff or investing it. He's bought a used food truck. The Peaches are going to spend the summer traveling the country selling pies. It will be the Great Peach Experiment—a summer of bonding while living out one of Mom's dreams. Summer plans, sunk. And there's one more issue Dad's neglected: none of them knows how to bake. . . .

A perfect blend of humor, heart, and family antics, When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Peach Pie is a delectable treat to be gobbled down or savored slowly. (Slice of pie on the side, optional, but highly recommended.)

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
Named to the Iowa Children's Choice List
Named to the Minnesota Maude Hart Lovelace List

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781645950356
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	03/29/2022
Series:	The Great Peach Experiment , #1
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	86,293
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Erin Soderberg Downing has written more than fifty books (some as Erin Soderberg) for kids, tweens, and young adults, including series like The Quirks and Puppy Pirates, and others. Erin is a former children's book editor, and she also worked at Nickelodeon.

Editorial Reviews

"Memories and loss juxtapose with curious slices of American roadside kitsch, adding up to a life-affirming, nostalgic adventure with an uplifting finale. The Great Peach Experiment is a cheering middle grade novel about a family’s madcap project that includes subtle lessons about overcoming grief."—Foreword Reviews
 
"Many, many mishaps and adventures follow the Peaches through their Midwest foray, each relayed with understated insight, while the adroit characterization of the self-absorbedly neglectful dad is heart-rending. On occasion, the plot twists veer to the delightfully quirky, and the whole tale is filled with both authenticity and originality. . . . Both bittersweet and uplifting; simply sparkles with life." —Kirkus Reviews

"This coming-of-age novel delves deep into the feelings of all three Peach children and the aftermath of losing such an integral person in the family. . . . A solid purchase for libraries where novels dealing with grief, family, and finding one’s voice are needed."—School Library Journal

"readers looking for a pleasing family-themed outing may appreciate the flavor of the Peaches." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
 
"In an enjoyable and accessible middle-grade novel, a grieving family travels the Midwest in a food truck—though they have zero experience—on a journey back to wholeness." —Shelf Awareness

From the Publisher

01/14/2022

Gr 3–6—Lucy Peach and her two younger brothers, Freddy and Herb, have been navigating the last two years pretty much on their own since their mother died of cancer. Their grieving father has buried himself deep into his work as a geology professor at the local university. As summer vacation approaches, the kids are told that their father has spontaneously purchased a used food truck and the summer will be spent peddling peach pie around the Midwest using their great-aunt Lucinda's recipe. Knowing nothing about the business, the family embarks on an adventure together with the goal of winning the Ohio Food Truck Festival grand prize of $10,000 at the end of the summer. Father Peach is a real stickler for maintaining a schedule, and the kids are once again lost in the shuffle of his ideas and demands. It isn't until Lucy finally finds her voice that things begin to change. Told in third-person perspective, this coming-of-age novel delves deep into the feelings of all three Peach children and the aftermath of losing such an integral person in the family. All characters are cued as white. VERDICT A solid purchase for libraries where novels dealing with grief, family, and finding one's voice are needed.—Tracy Cronce

School Library Journal

2021-01-26
A family heals through food truck adventures.

Twelve-year-old Lucy, 10-year-old Freddy, and 8-year-old Herb Peach lost their mom two years ago to cancer. Their dad retreated into his academic work, leaving Lucy to pick up the slack both as consoling parental figure to her brothers and competent scheduler of daily activities. When their father informs them that one of their mom’s inventions has sold for $1.3 million, the children excitedly plot what to do with the money—until he tells them that he has bought a used food truck and they will drive around the country in it, fulfilling one of her dreams. He suggests that they tour the Midwest, selling pies. The kids, especially Lucy, are skeptical, since their father has been neither constant nor practical, but they hope that this can bring the family together, i.e., bring their father back, and they’re willing to try—and besides it was their mother’s dream. Many, many mishaps and adventures follow the Peaches through their Midwest foray, each relayed with understated insight, while the adroit characterization of the self-absorbedly neglectful dad is heart-rending. On occasion, the plot twists veer to the delightfully quirky, and the whole tale is filled with both authenticity and originality. All characters read as default White.

Both bittersweet and uplifting; simply sparkles with life. (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews