School Library Journal (Wed Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2017)

Gr 4-6The start of fifth grade marks the beginning of big changes for Stephanie Sandolini. Beyond new clothes (hello, training bra), routines, and classes, the biggest change of all is that her aunt Gina is moving out and her dad is moving back from California to care for her and her older sister Nina. Steffy doesn't know what to think about her father's return, so she does what she knows best: she cooks. Along the way, she comes up with a plan to prepare favorite recipes for her mom, who lives in a nursing facility after an accident caused a traumatic brain injury. Steffy enters a community contest called Chefs of Tomorrow. Nails gets the middle school voice just right in this gentle novel that touches on some important issues. The cooking framework that anchors much of the book makes for short chapters that have a lot of impact and effectively drive the action forward. The recipes mentioned in the narrative are included in an afterword, so readers can create some of Steffy's dishes for a more interactive experience. VERDICT Recommended for upper elementary and middle school library collections, this novel will appeal to readers who enjoy realistic fiction with strong female protagonists.Kelly Kingrey-Edwards, Blinn Junior College, Brenham, TX

ALA Booklist (Wed Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2017)

Changes are coming for 11-year-old Steffy and her older sister, Nina. Eight years after a car accident, their mother is still receiving care at "the Place," where they visit her, while Auntie Gina remains their mainstay at home. Now she's moving out and their dad is moving back in, hoping to become a father to them. Nina devotes her time to dance, while Steffy, who loves to cook, prepares for the challenging Chefs of Tomorrow competition. Though unsettled by her dad's presence and her aunt's marriage plans, she gradually comes to a clearer understanding of herself and her family. Set in Greensboro, North Carolina, Steffy's first-person narrative offers a very readable account of coping during a time of uncertainty. Some of her reflections concern her attempts to understand her parents' problems and their histories, but most center on her own understandable worries. While the ongoing story thread involving Steffy's class autobiography assignment seems rather purposeful, most of the writing flows well. The book concludes with her autobiography project, which in turn concludes with 42 pages of recipes.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Fifth-grader Steffy Sandolini navigates a complicated family in Nails-s (Next to Mexico) emotionally charged story. Her mother suffered a traumatic brain injury when Steffy was three and now resides in an assisted living facility, leaving Steffy and her older sister, Nina, to be raised by their Auntie Gina. Their father, who abandoned them after the accident, has recently returned to claim the girls, but is emotionally unavailable and secretly struggling with addiction. Living with her father, a virtual stranger, Steffy quietly attempts to understand his long absence. With her aunt beginning a new family and Nina pulling away, Steffy turns to her mother-s old Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, which is stuffed with collected recipes and handwritten notes, in an effort to reconnect. Through an autobiography project at school and a cooking competition, Steffy begins to see the ways in which the ingredients of her family combine and that the final result, while flawed and sometimes unexpected, is still delicious. Steffy-s growing understanding of what makes a family and journey to find her voice through food are powerful, and her story is rich with fodder for discussion. Ages 8-12. Agent: Elizabeth Harding, Curtis Brown. (Apr.)

Horn Book (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

When eleven-year-old Steffy's usually absent father returns, it upsets the stable life she and her sister have built in their aunt's home; their mother lives in a care facility due to a traumatic brain injury. Steffy copes by cooking; her autobiographical cookbook is appended. The novel is honest about the difficulties of Steffy's childhood, and a relatively happy resolution contributes to its middle-grade appeal.

Kirkus Reviews

Is your family a well-catered, fancy meal? Or is it more like a cafeteria food fight? Finding the kernel of truth about her family's simmering secrets sets one girl up with a recipe for confusion. Steffy Sandolini has been living in Greensboro with Auntie Gina and her sister, Nina. However, the return of her wayward father and Auntie Gina's desire to move in with boyfriend Harry send the Sandolini girls' lives into a tailspin. Their mother lives at the Place—a long-term care facility—due to traumatic brain injury suffered in an accident. (Save Korean-American Harry, everyone in Steffy's family is white.) Steffy confronts the turmoil the best way she knows how—cooking. Nails convincingly captures Steffy's zigzagging thoughts as the 11-year-old struggles to make sense of why her father left or her mother's new reality. While older sister Nina, 13, is defiant toward their taciturn father, Steffy remains hopeful that all the unsaid things will magically coalesce like gravy, smoothing out the worry and regret. Transitions between chapters, named for and reflecting the various dishes that Steffy makes, are often abrupt, and Steffy's heartbreaking need for her father's attention fluctuates between feeling extremely young and perceptively advanced. And the big questions that Steffy confronts are not always answered satisfactorily. Nails serves up a platter of tender, poignant goodies, but the resolution, or lack thereof, on some key questions raised may be a bit hard to swallow for young readers. (Fiction. 8-12)