Praise for Midsummer's Mayhem
Absolutely scrumptious! I fell in love with this book and devoured it in one day. LaRocca crafts a spell of tricky fairies, lovable mortals, and heartfelt magic. Mimi is determined, resourceful, and unfailingly kind. Perfect for aspiring bakers, younger siblings, or anyone with a passion.
Anna Merianoauthor of the Love, Sugar, Magic series
Praise for Red, White, and Whole
Truly, one of the most heart-expanding stories ever, filled with kindness, music, mythology, all of those things. But above all, here is a story of love, and the ways in which it transcends nationalities, age, science, and fear. In LaRocca’s gifted hands, her Reha shows us how to live in the world, even when it feels divided, even then.
Kathi AppeltNational Book Award finalist and Newbery Honor-winning author of The Underneath and Keeper
Praise for Midsummer’s Mayhem
Laugh-out-loud funny one moment and mouth-wateringly delicious the next, Midsummer’s Mayhem is an utter pleasure to consume from the very first page! LaRocca’s debut novel entices and bewitches—I dare you not to fall under its spell.
Tara Dairmanauthor of The Great Hibernation and the award-winning All Four Stars series
Praise for Midsummer's Mayhem
I’m hungry for all the treats in this story and for more books from Rajani LaRocca. Mimi is a kind and inquisitive girl that you instinctively root for, and her struggles with failure really resonated with me. This play on Shakespeare with a culinary twist is absolutely delightful and, dare I say it, scrumptious. More, more, more!
Sami ThomasonSquare Books, Oxford, MS
Praise for Much Ado About Baseball
This ambitious, layered story pulls together sports, Shakespeare, and mathematics while conveying a sweet, accessible message of the value of friendship and forgiveness.
School Library Journal
Praise for Red, White, and Whole
This was such a beautifully written and heartbreaking story. For kids experiencing or who have experienced a parent who has suffered from cancer, or ever felt torn between two places. A novel of family, friendship, and grief. Set in the 1980’s which is a perfect time to set a story like this one.
Lauren Nopenz Fairley, Curious Iguana, Frederick, Maryland
Praise for Red, White, and Whole
The list you could write of all the ways this book beautifully addresses a young girl who is trapped between being from a country she no longer lives in and living in a country she doesn’t quite feel she belongs may almost end up longer than this book. The layers of metaphor, stories, and a young girl you cannot help but love and cheer for; this book is something special.
Nichole Cousins, PBW dba Yankee Bookshop, Woodstock, Vermont
Praise for Red, White, and Whole
Brimming with warmth. An approachable account of negotiating identity and of struggling with loss.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Praise for Midsummer’s Mayhem
Midsummer’s Mayhem is delightful confection of a family story full of heart, magic, and a baking championship with mysteriously high stakes! LaRocca takes Shakespeare’s almost throwaway reference from A Midsummer Night’s Dream and reclaims it, by centering a multiracial Indian-American family in her tale. Mimi’s pluck, gentle courage, and knack for combining flavors will capture reader’s hearts, imaginations, and undoubtedly, taste buds!
Sayantani DasGuptaauthor of the NYT-bestselling Kiranmala and The Kingdom Beyond series
Praise for Red, White, and Whole
Infused with science, 80’s music, and the struggles and joys of navigating middle school when you live in two different worlds, RED, WHITE, AND WHOLE is delightfully real and achingly beautiful. Reha’s story grabbed my heart from the first pages and never let go.
Kate MessnerAuthor of Breakout and Chirp
Praise for Much Ado About BaseballBaseball provides energetic context to this story in alternating voices of friends in a lovingly drawn and diverse community. Add magic, numbers, Shakespeare, and lashings of mystery, all seasoned with artful sprinkles of culinary flavor and equal parts humor and heart. Cleverly adjacent to the world of Midsummer’s Mayhem, yet standing wonderfully well alone.
Uma Krishnaswami, Author and Astrid Lindgren Award nominee
Praise for Midsummer's Mayhem
Honeysuckle sweet with a pinch of mayhem and a fairy twist! You’ll only want to put this book down in order to eat an entire plate of cookies. Shakespeare and baking — it’s the book combo dreams are made of.
Liz RiceThe Book Cellar, Chicago, IL
Praise for Much Ado About Baseball
Much Ado About Baseball is the best children’s book I’ve read in the past 10 years!
Brad Thor, New York Times bestselling author of the Scot Harvath series
Praise for Where Three Oceans Meet
The metaphor of the intertwining of cross-cultural and cross-generational similarities and differences is sustained from start to finish, offering points of connection for readers from all backgrounds.
Booklist
Praise for Midsummer’s Mayhem
Taking its inspiration from one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies, Midsummer’s Mayhem is a sweet and fun story about mistaken identity, bumpy romance, and the everyday magic of baking.
Barbara Deeauthor of Star-Crossed and Maybe He Just Likes You
Praise for Seven Golden Rings
[Seven Golden Rings] succeeds both as an entertaining read-aloud and as a teasing introduction to the binary system.
Booklist STARRED Review
Praise for Where Three Oceans Meet
This warm intergenerational tale emphasizes how love transcends distance and endures across continents.
Publishers Weekly
Praise for Midsummer's Mayhem
The realistic characters and complex family dynamics augment the tightly knit plot, and the mouthwatering descriptions of food are guaranteed to make readers hungry. . .A delectable treat for food and literary connoisseurs alike.
Kirkus, Starred Review
Praise for Red, White, and Whole
Beautiful, tender novel in verse about a girl born in America to Indian parents. She feels the tug of the children of immigrants, needing to belong, and also strives for knowledge and the ability to help others. Her mother’s illness is movingly portrayed, as is the love and care her community gives to her (both from family friends, her auntie, and her school). This novel bursts with love and devotion.
Robin Stern, Books Inc., San Francisco, CA
Praise for Red, White, and Whole
This book is a marvel — at once so rich and so spare. A coming of age story, a family story, a story of America, of science, of friendship, of courage, of culture, of aspiration.
Ali BenjaminNational Book Award Finalist author of The Thing About Jellyfish