Independence Cake: A Revolutionary Confection Inspired by Amelia Simmons, Whose True History Is Unfortunately Unknown - Hardcover

Deborah Hopkinson is the prolific, bestselling, and versatile author of many books for children, including Beatrix Potter and the Unfortunate Tale of a Borrowed Guinea Pig, which Kirkus Reviews, in a starred review, called, "a charming, delightful homage." Hopkinson’s backlist picture-book gems include the ALA-ALSC Notable Children’s Book Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek, Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, and Fannie in the Kitchen, which is also about a cookbook writer and received four starred reviews. Deborah Hopkinson was awarded a Robert F. Sibert Honor for Titanic: Voices from the Disaster. Visit her at deborahhopkinson.com or on Twitter @deborahopkinson.
 
Giselle Potter is the author of This Is My Dollhouse, which the New York Times hailed as “celebrat[ing] the best of free play.” She has illustrated many books for children, among them Kate and the Beanstalk by Mary Pope Osborne, an ALA-ALSC Notable Children’s Book; The Boy Who Loved Words by Roni Schotter, a Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner; and Cecil the Pet Glacier by Matthea Harvey. She also wrote and illustrated Tell Me What to Dream About. Giselle lives in New York's Hudson Valley with her husband and two daughters. Visit her at GisellePotter.com.

Gr 3–5—Just as cooks wash their hands before they get to work, so does Hopkinson come clean about this story: Amelia Simmons, the writer of the first American cookbook, did exist, but almost everything else in the following pages is a delightful concoction based on the scant details known about her life. Amelia describes herself as "an American orphan": her father is imagined to be a fallen soldier; her mother, a victim of smallpox; and Amelia, a "bound girl" taken in by a large family to help with the household. She learns to cook English dishes and eventually creates new recipes using local ingredients, such as winter squash for pudding and cornmeal for flapjacks. Culinary parallels to the Revolutionary War are cleverly woven throughout, and the watercolor and ink illustrations, relying on a delectable, warm palette, depict red apples, pumpkins, lemons, pickles, and sacks of grain. Though the details are made up, Amelia is still an inspiring character, so much so that readers may even want to tackle the "independence cake" recipe, with its 20 pounds of flour and 15 pounds of sugar. An author's note and links for modern versions of Election Day cakes are also included. VERDICT A strange but appealing bit of Americana that might fit into some history and maker units. Like most confections, it's an additional but nonessential purchase.—Joanna K. Fabicon, Los Angeles Public Library