Selected Titles: Wisconsin Food for Young Adult Readers

from the Wisconsin Library Association

By Betsy Bromley, Contributing Librarian

Betsy Bromley is the children's and teen librarian at the Oconomowoc Public Library, which is nestled in the Lake Country area of southeastern Wisconsin. Her picks, geared for young adult readers, include a mix of novels and non-fiction works.

[See also, EAT @ Wisconsin's reading lists for adults and for children ages 4-12 years old.]

Bauer, Joan.

• Hope Was Here, 2005. Hope is a pro at the waitressing game, and it's taken her to places far and wide with her aunt, who is a cook. Then she leaves the bustle of Brooklyn, New York, to run the Welcome Stairways Cafe in rural Mulhoney, Wisconsin. There, she helps the ailing café owner G.T. Stoop run for mayor despite his leukemia, and she and her aunt both find love. This one is as warm and satisfying as homemade apple pie.

Clark, Catherine.

• Wurst Case Scenario, 2001. This is the diary-like story of a hip vegan who moves from Colorado to rural Dairyland for college. Her romantic foibles and culture shock will charm readers, who might want to check out the first book from this narrator, Truth or Dairy, set during the narrator’s senior year of high school in Colorado.

Gold, Rozanne and Phil Mansfield.

• Eat Fresh Food: Awesome Recipes for Teen Chefs, 2009. This colorful offering serves up recipes based on fresh, wholesome foods and has ideas for everything from the basic (homemade butter, anyone?!) to the exotic (pink pickled onions!). A breezy, fun book for anyone who loves to eat fresh and eat well.

Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition (MACSAC).

• From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce, 2004. Do you know what you can do with bok choy? How about kohlrabi, or Jerusalem artichokes? Either way, check out this go-to guide on Dairyland produce. The local food movement is hugely popular right now--get yourself started with this great, very approachable guide.

Schaefer, Laura.

• Teashop Girls, 2008. Annie's grandma has a teashop in Madison, Wisconsin. As eighth grade ends, Annie learns that the teashop is in trouble, and she and two of her friends, who used to be "The Teashop Girls," band together to save it. A cozy coming-of-age 'tween read.

Stern, Sam. This teen chef from England published his first cookbook when he was just 14 years old! Don't let the British terms in some recipes hold you back--experience Sam's exuberant cooking style for yourself!

• Cooking Up a Storm, 2006.
• Real Food, Real Fast, 2008.
• Get Cooking, 2009.
• Sam Stern's Student Cookbook, 2008.
• Eat Vegetarian, 2010.