Donut Days

by Lara Zielin

Overview

Emma's life is a mess. Her best friend isn't talking to her, and the boy she's known forever and dismissed has turned into a hottie. As if that weren't enough, her preacher parents have decided not to pay for college unless Emma goes to a Christian school, something she will never do. Enter the Crispy Dream—a new donut franchise where people camp out waiting to be the first ones served. The local paper is running a scholarship for the person who writes the best feature story about the donut camp. Joining the camp could be Emma's big chance at taking control of her future. But it's going to take a lot of faith in the human spirit—and a few donuts—to change her life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101032862
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	08/06/2009
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	254 KB
Age Range:	10 Years

About the Author

Lara Zielin lives in Michigan.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

-Zielin+s lighthearted yet substantive portrayals of Emma+s struggles with God, family, and friendship ring absolutely true.+ -Kirkus Reviews

Editorial Reviews

In her thoughtful debut, Zielin explores the pressures faced by a pastor's daughter (both her parents preach at her church) and the bonds that hold families and friendships together. Sixteen-year-old Emma believes in God, but isn't sure that she's actually experienced God in the way that fellow parishioners at Living Word Redeemer expect her to. She reads the newspaper more than the Bible and bristles when her parents give her brochures for conservative Christian colleges. Still, when a wealthy member of the church campaigns to remove her mother as pastor after a “prophecy,” Emma goes to bat for her beliefs and her family. Zielin gives Emma a wonderfully sarcastic voice (“Why couldn't I go anywhere without finding myself surrounded by people who thought choosing which item to get out of a vending machine required prayer?”) and delivers lively characters, such as Bear, a member of a born-again motorcycle gang who Emma meets at a “donut camp,” celebrating the opening of a doughnut shop. Along with Emma, readers will discover that faith, friendship and family often lead to unexpected kinds of victory. Ages 12–up. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 7–10—Donuts, friendship, corruption, religion, love, and motorcycle gangs all figure into this sweet, satisfying treat of a first novel. Emma, a pastor's daughter who is about to start her senior year, has some serious questions to figure out. A member of the family's Living Word Redeemer church has challenged her mother's right to preach, throwing her whole family into turmoil. Emma might be in love with a boy whose father just happens to be the one causing all the trouble. She has also had a falling out with her best friend. Emma wants to study journalism at a non-Christian college, which her father refuses to pay for. How do donuts figure into all this? A donut chain is opening a new store in Emma's town, and people are streaming in from miles around to camp out for the opening. When the local paper offers a scholarship to the student who writes the best article on the event, Emma is determined to win. Her ambivalence about religion is addressed with sensitivity; she respects her parents' faith while also questioning their beliefs about evolution and the Bible. The overall tone is airy as Emma interviews die-hard donut campers, including a born-again motorcycle gang, and admits her feelings to the object of her affections. Teens will enjoy this lighter look at some serious issues of faith and family.—Miranda Doyle, San Francisco Unified School District

School Library Journal

In this spirited-and, in an offbeat, somewhat irreverent way, spiritual-offering, readers meet Emma, who, despite the fact that both her parents are ministers at an evangelical church, finds her desire to feel the power of God in a direct and immediate way continually frustrated. Emma's relationship with God becomes even more troubled when a wealthy church member challenges Emma's mother's right to preach based on her gender. Add to this the terrible fight that Emma has had with her best friend Nat, her budding relationship with the son of the man who instigated the church trouble and her attempt to get around her parents' decision that she attend a Christian college by winning a scholarship contest for the best article on the Crispy Dream donut camp, and complications abound. The whimsical plot stretches credulity in places, as does the virtuousness of Emma's crush, Jake, who never flinches in his loyalty to Emma, but Zielin's lighthearted yet substantive portrayals of Emma's struggles with God, family and friendship ring absolutely true. (Fiction. YA)

Kirkus Reviews

-Zielin+s lighthearted yet substantive portrayals of Emma+s struggles with God, family, and friendship ring absolutely true.+ -Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher