World of Pies

by Karen Stolz

Book Overview

First-time novelist Karen Stolz has created a cozy, poignant and exquis- itely written episodic tale of family, food, and love. Set in a small town in Texas in the 1960s, where there wasnt a lot to pick from, summer-job wise: counter-girl at Jerrys Dairy King, shampoo girl at Barbs Tint n Clip; the maid job at the Bluebonnet Motel, a young girl named Roxanne comes of age. Whether its a pie-baking contest that becomes a lesson in racial politics and...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786865504
• ISBN13: 9780786865505
• Release Date: June 2000
• Publisher: Hyperion Books
• Length: 161 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 17 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 12 to Postsecondary

Customer Reviews

Wonderful slice-of-life novel

For a refreshing and sweet trip down memory lane, World of Pies is the perfect novel. Beginning with a 12-year-old girl named Roxanne and her obsession with baseball and daily Doreen's Drugstore visits, readers are transported back in time when they were young and carefree, when all that mattered in the world was perfecting your pitch, licking melting vanilla icecream as it runs down your arm, and barbeques on the Fourth of July.Each chapter is based on a different stage in Roxanne's life. We get to know life as it is in sleepy Annette, Texas, where the world seems to come to a standstill, where everyone knows everybody, a place Roxanne couldn't wait to leave, but also the place where she couldn't wait to return. Roxanne grows up within these few pages, and readers will delight in every word.World of Pies is a beautiful, homespun, feel-good novel. Each story can bring about nostalgic recollection, change laughter into tears, and tickle tastebuds with delicious recipies. Karen Stolz has written the perfect book for dreamers and thinkers, a home away from home, a story to pass on to friends. A nice change of pace after a heavy-duty novel and perfect for a quick weekend read.

What a fun, fun read!

If you're looking for a light read, this book is it! I picked it up from the library and finished it in one day ~~ now, all I have to do is try the recipes that Karen Stolz so generously put into the book!This book is about Roxanne, who is 12-years-old in the beginning of the book and it details her growing up years ~~ from a tomboy transformed into a graceful woman. Growing up in a small town, Roxanne learns that life isn't always fair or always nice. Between the whimiscal lifestyle of a small town, a mother who gets pregnant during Roxanne's teenage years, friends, boyfriends, crushes, first love, death, marriage ~~ it brings back memories of your growing up years. It is a wonderful journey through memory lane ~~ especially during the 60s in Texas. Roxanne is everyone's next-door neighbor ~~ the one you watch growing up. If you're looking for a book that doesn't bog you down with gloom and despair, then I recommend this one. You won't be bogged down ~~ not with this book! There is no place like home and as Roxanne discovers, you can go home again.

For a Hot Summer Afternoon

I loved World of Pies. I would savor the descriptions of the "shivery and crunchy" frozen salad and Roxanne necking in the back of Doreen's Drugstore. Having grown up in the same period, it was refreshing to reminisce about setting your hair on juice cans, using Dippity Doo, and picking out the right clothes for your college wardrobe. We all have met people like Aunt Ruthie and Roxanne's parents. And we have experienced similar life events to what Roxanne saw. The difference is the way Karen Stolz writes about them. In this refreshing and too short story about a young girl's passage to womanhood and motherhood, we are all right there in Annette, Texas with her. I only hope that the author writes more. This one is a keeper.

As Good as Mom's Homemade Pies!

Travel along with author Karen Stolz as her book, World of Pies, takes you back to a place sadly gone.The year is 1961 and 12 year old Roxanne, resident of a small town in Texas, and her mother are baking pies for the first ever Annette, Texas pie fair. Roxanne, though, would be happier if she was playing baseball. And as you read this lovely book, watch as Roxanne deals with first dates, first kisses, girlfriends and boyfriends. For within the pages of World of Pies is a wonderful coming of age story in the tradition of To Kill A Mockingbird. And watch as the story goes full circle as we see Roxanne at the end of the book teaching her daughter Sophie about the world of pies.I found this book to be both charming and humorous. And an added bonus to this read is that the book is filled with recipes for mouth watering pies.The book is also filled with wonderful and strong characters, a dash of poignancy, and a sprinkling of wit. All the necessary ingredients one needs to make a good pie and a wonderful read.Pack this book for vacation time. You won't be sorry. It will be just right for the beach or a day spent reading under a tree.

World of PIes by Karen Stolz

Roxanne Milner lives in Annette, Texas, where her father owns the lingerie store, and her mother attends to the details of daily life. Always curious, always nudged by a fascination for the unusual, Roxanne comes of age in a time when a small town no longer insulates one from the larger issues: racial tension, the war in Vietnam, strangers from a parent's past. Baseball and baking contests, extended family including her beloved cousin Tommy and fabulous Aunt Ruthie, crushes and full-fledged love affairs see Roxanne through summers in Annette. Those things and delicious, comforting food from her mother's kitchen. (Recipies included!)Ms. Stolz takes us into the Milner home and into Roxanne's heart with the tiniest details of a young woman's life. We can almost taste the density of homemade tomato soup, share the scent of a rainy night, feel loss and hope. These experiences are always tied to Roxanne's evolving place in her family. House geckos, house hunting, threadbare bathrobes--everyday objects and activities become images of passion in Roxanne's life. With an authentic sense of Texas, Ms. Stolz writes with clarity and intimacy, never straying from the story that unfolds for Roxanne, never leaving us confused. But, yes, Ms. Stolz always makes us want more. This was a book I loved reading.