For What It's Worth


Thursday, July 3, 2014

All Four Stars by Tara Dairman Blog Tour – Excerpt & Giveaway!

I’m so excited to be a part of the All Four Stars book tour! I ADORED this book and the pint sized cooking whirlwind/budding food critic, Gladys Gatsby.

If you’re a fan of eating (that would be me) or cooking (not so much – but I felt inspired after reading this book) - All Four Stars will take you on a mouthwatering tour of foods from around the globe. You can’t help but be swept up in Gladys passion for cooking and giggle at her exploits.

I just can't think of enough ways to say how adorable this book is.

I would recommend it to foodies of course, but also to anyone, young or old. Having a passion for something you love is a universal feeling and you won't be able to resist falling in love with the determined Gladys Gatsby. I seriously want to adopt that girl!

Four stars for All Four Stars!


***

18289482

Meet Gladys Gatsby: New York’s toughest restaurant critic. (Just don’t tell anyone that she’s in sixth grade.)

Gladys Gatsby has been cooking gourmet dishes since the age of seven, only her fast-food-loving parents have no idea! Now she’s eleven, and after a crème brûlée accident (just a small fire), Gladys is cut off from the kitchen (and her allowance). She’s devastated but soon finds just the right opportunity to pay her parents back when she’s mistakenly contacted to write a restaurant review for one of the largest newspapers in the world.

But in order to meet her deadline and keep her dream job, Gladys must cook her way into the heart of her sixth-grade archenemy and sneak into New York City—all while keeping her identity a secret! Easy as pie, right?

Release date: July 10, 2014

Goodreads |Amazon | B&N |iBooks | Kobo | Indie Bound

***

All Four Stars Excerpt

"Gladdy?"

Gladys jumped. Her stomach began to churn queasily, like it did after eating the greasy takeout her parents brought home most nights from Sticky Burger or Fred's Fried Fowl.

"Yes?" she said as bravely as she could.

Her father knelt down beside the sofa. "Let's start at the beginning," he said. "Can you explain what, exactly, you were doing in the kitchen?"

Gladys told the truth. "I was making crème brûlée."

"Crumb broo-lay?" Gladys's dad looked up at his wife quizzically, but she just shrugged. "What is crumb broo-lay?"

Gladys sighed. If a dish wasn't on the menu at one of the fast-food joints in town, her parents didn't know it existed. "It's a dessert," she explained. "A custard with a crust of burnt sugar on top. Brûlée means burnt in French."

"So now we have curtains brûlée, huh?" Gladys's dad laughed at his little joke. But her mom didn't seem to think it was funny as she stepped forward to take over the interrogation. She had white extinguisher powder on her face, and her red lipstick was smeared. The combination made her look like a clown--a scary clown.

"Gladys," Clown-Mom said, moving her hands to her hips, "who taught you how to make this crumb...thing?"

Gladys took a deep breath. "I taught myself," she said. "I've seen chefs do it on TV, and I found the recipe in one of my cookbooks, so--"

"So you thought you'd just drag your father's blowtorch out of the garage and take a crack at it?"
"No!" Gladys cried. "I mean, I didn't just...decide to do it and go get the blowtorch. I planned it really carefully. Normally I'm a very good cook."

"Normally?" Her mom raised one powder-dusted eyebrow.

Uh-oh.

Gladys's dad jumped back in. "Gladdy," he said quickly, is this the first time you've been cooking on your own?"


***


5815760Tara Dairman is a novelist, playwright, and survivor of the world’s longest honeymoon (2 years, 74 countries!). Thanks to her travels, parts of her debut middle-grade novel, All Four Stars, were written in a mall in Brazil, a guesthouse in Morocco, and coffeehouses in Argentina, Cameroon, Gabon, and Tanzania. Revisions took place in the slightly less exotic locale of her parents’ basement in New York.

The book, which tells the story of an 11-year-old restaurant critic moonlighting for New York’s biggest newspaper, will be published on July 10, 2014 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin.

Tara’s plays have been produced professionally in New York and Dublin, Ireland, as well as at various universities, and have been shortlisted for prizes such as the Heideman Award (Actors Theater of Louisville), the Jerome Fellowship (The Playwrights’ Center, Minneapolis), and the Princess Grace Award. She has a B.A. in Creative Writing from Dartmouth College and is represented by Ammi-Joan Paquette of the Erin Murphy Literary Agency.

With the traveling bug appeased (for now), Tara has finally settled down in Colorado, where she lives with her husband and their trusty waffle iron.

Website | Twitter | Facebook

GIVEAWAY

Enter to win a copy of All Four Stars by filling out the Rafflecopter form below. 
You can win 1 of 8 finished copies thanks to Putnam. 
Giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents, age 18 or older, or 13+ with parents permission.


***

The All Four Stars Blog Tour is hosted by The Midnight Garden Blog Tours

TMG blog tours

Visit Midnight Garden's tour kickoff post with links to all of the  All Four Stars tour stops!

23 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. It is and totally matches the cuteness and whimsy of the book!

      Delete
  2. Aw, that sounds so cute! I don't usually read MG any more but I love that this is about a wee restaurant critic! And such a cute cover, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't either but it's so cute and relatable that I think it's for everyone - young or old.

      Delete
  3. I'm already in love with Gladys just from reading this excerpt! Would love to share this book with my daughter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OMG - isn't she the CUTEST! SO spunky and fun.

      I'm planning on buying a finished copy for myself as well as my nieces and nephews.

      Delete
  4. "Clown-Mom" makes me laugh every time I read this part, hah. Thanks so much for being part of the tour, Karen! I wish Gladys were real so she could take the two of us on this foodie tour of New York. Alas....

    Wendy @ The Midnight Garden

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I want to adopt her! The whole time her parents were mad I was thinking - Are you CRAZY! I would buy that girl every piece of cooking equipment she wanted so she could make me dinner every night. lol

      Delete
  5. IIII know. She might never get to leave the house!

    I loved this book so much, and I'm glad you did, too. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Poor Gladys - she might not even want to cook anymore after living with us lol

      Delete
  6. Thanks for the great giveaway!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love this excerpt! It's always funny when parents don't get it (whatever "it" is from the kid's perspective).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's tough being a kid sometimes :-))

      I definitely wouldn't mind if my kid wanted to cook every night!

      Delete
  8. Oh how adorable! I wish my kid cooks so that I don't have to...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Cute! I bet my daughter or nieces would adore this. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  10. What an adorable excerpt! I'm a horrible cook too, so I totally sympathize even though the character is WAY younger than I. Hehe

    ReplyDelete
  11. This is just so cute and I so am recommending it to some of my little cousins. I think they like cooking so much more than me. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  12. Woah, I feel exactly the same. I mean, I don't really like cooking but baking would be OK depending on my mood. Although, I love eating and this book does seem adorable. :)

    Seeing Night Reviews

    ReplyDelete
  13. Creme brulee is one of the few desserts that gives me trouble to cook...can't wait to read this!

    vitajex(at)Aol(Dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  14. This sounds so adorable. I can't wait to read it!

    ReplyDelete
  15. These teasers are certainly doing their job. I can't wait to get my hands on this book!

    ReplyDelete