Noodle Pie (Ruth Starke, Omnibus Books, $16.99 pb, ISBN 9781862917637, February 2008) *****

Andy is an Australian of Vietnamese parentage and he and his dad go to Vietnam to meet all his relatives. What a cultural shock it is for this Aussie kid to meet them all. He thinks they are greedy and grasping. Everyone calls him by his Vietnamese name instead of Andy and he is shocked to discover the family restaurant is nothing like what he expects. How the likeable Andy involves himself in improving the family’s fortunes, helps his dad come to terms with his relatives and improves the lives of his cousins makes for an engrossing read. Starke’s characters have very satisfactory and believable family relationships—both between Andy and his dad and the Vietnamese side of his family. This is an ‘unputdownable’ story with a wonderful multicultural flavour that is very accessible and in no way preaches to kids. There is a sobering piece at the end of the book on the huge number of street kids in Vietnam and details of an Australian making a difference with a training restaurant for them in Hanoi, appropriately called ‘Know One Teach One’. There are also authentic easy recipes to try—since a large part of the book involves cooking and eating! A new book from the award-winning author of Nips XI, which should be in every school and public library.

Sandy Campbell is a past president of the CBCA (NSW branch) and has worked in the publishing industry for more than 20 years

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2007, Thorpe-Bowker