Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Mon Feb 06 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Two brothers navigate a new country, a new language, and grief through cake.In this graphic/prose hybrid novel, 12-year-old Jingwen, his little brother, Yanghao, and their mother immigrate to Australia. The family is Chinese, though their home country is never specified. The boys start at the Northbridge Primary School not knowing any English, which has Jingwen feeling they have just arrived on Mars. Quickly he realizes it is he and Yanghao who must appear to be the Martians to everyone else, comically literalized with pictures of a four-eyed, antennae'd Jingwen. While Yanghao quickly picks up English, Jingwen resists, struggling in lessons and to make friends. Piece by piece readers learn it was Jingwen's father's dream to open a cake shop called Pie in the Sky in Australia before he suddenly passed away. After finding the family's cookbook, the boys decide to secretly bake all the Pie in the Sky cakes. Jingwen especially takes it to heart, pouring his grief and frustrations into every frosted layer, believing that it "will fix everything." Herself an immigrant to Australia from Singapore, Lai unfolds the story like a memory, giving brief flashbacks interspersed throughout the daily musings and nuanced relationships among family members. Jingwen's emotional journey is grounded in honest reality; it ebbs and flows naturally with strategic spots of humor to lighten the overall tone.Like salted caramel, a perfect balance of flavors, this deftly drawn story is a heartfelt treat. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 10-13)

ALA Booklist (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)

A boy struggles to come to terms with his father's death and his new life after immigrating to Australia in this character-driven novel. Back home, Jingwen's family ran a cake shop. In Australia, Jingwen struggles to understand his classmates and teachers. Worse, his annoying little brother, Yanghao, seems to be learning English and making friends with no trouble at all. Jingwen's refuge becomes secretly baking, with help from Yanghao, all the cakes his father planned to sell in his new bakery. Jingwen thinks if he can bake all of them, maybe he will be forgiven for not always appreciating his father. Maybe everything will be OK again. Jingwen's slow journey through grief and displacement is heartbreaking but ultimately hopeful. Lai's cartoon illustrations depict Jingwen's sense of alienation (at times, Jingwen is drawn as an alien, a ghost, and a robot) with care and sensitivity. Comics interludes, complete with speech balloons, enliven the story. Even though Jingwen deals with heavy burdens, his story also contains plenty of humor. An emotional tale about loss and letting go, pleasantly buoyed by comedy and cake baking.

Horn Book (Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)

Jingwen's family lands in Australia, where he doesn't know the language and isn't interested in making friends. All Jingwen wants to do is bake the elaborate cakes he and his two-years-deceased father perfected in preparation for opening a cake shop. Lai's debut novel—with frequent, blue-tinged illustrations--delves into grief, onerous fraternal responsibilities, and adjusting to life in an "alien" world. Heartbreakingly honest; in equal parts funny and poignant.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Two brothers navigate a new country, a new language, and grief through cake.In this graphic/prose hybrid novel, 12-year-old Jingwen, his little brother, Yanghao, and their mother immigrate to Australia. The family is Chinese, though their home country is never specified. The boys start at the Northbridge Primary School not knowing any English, which has Jingwen feeling they have just arrived on Mars. Quickly he realizes it is he and Yanghao who must appear to be the Martians to everyone else, comically literalized with pictures of a four-eyed, antennae'd Jingwen. While Yanghao quickly picks up English, Jingwen resists, struggling in lessons and to make friends. Piece by piece readers learn it was Jingwen's father's dream to open a cake shop called Pie in the Sky in Australia before he suddenly passed away. After finding the family's cookbook, the boys decide to secretly bake all the Pie in the Sky cakes. Jingwen especially takes it to heart, pouring his grief and frustrations into every frosted layer, believing that it "will fix everything." Herself an immigrant to Australia from Singapore, Lai unfolds the story like a memory, giving brief flashbacks interspersed throughout the daily musings and nuanced relationships among family members. Jingwen's emotional journey is grounded in honest reality; it ebbs and flows naturally with strategic spots of humor to lighten the overall tone.Like salted caramel, a perfect balance of flavors, this deftly drawn story is a heartfelt treat. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 10-13)

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

Lai centers her incisive illustrated novel debut on Jingwen, who moves from his unspecified home country to Australia with his mother and younger brother Yanghao after his father-s death. The boy mourns the loss of his father and feels like an alien among his fifth-grade classmates as he struggles to learn English, which sounds like -Martian words- (blue-tinged illustrations show others, then the boys, as space aliens in their daily life). Summoning memories of baking with Papa, Jingwen imagines the cakes they-d anticipated selling at Pie in the Sky, the bakery they planned to open upon moving. Jingwen vows to make the 12 cakes, believing this will preserve his memories of Papa-and that -cakes make everything better.- But his baking obsession leads to the betrayal of his hardworking mother-s trust, landing him and Yanghao in hot water. Though repetition of facts and dialogue (including the brothers- penchant for calling each another -Booger-) at times thwarts the narrative flow, its pace accelerates in the final chapters as Lai adds a few surprise ingredients to concoct a deeply satisfying ending for this heartwarming immigrant story about sibling bonds, honesty, and surmounting obstacles. Ages 8-12. (May)