Julia reads "Dessert First"Dessert Schneider has a lot going on in her life. First, she’s finally convinced her parents that she should be able to eat her dessert first every night. Second, she doesn’t quite know what to make of her new teacher – Mrs. Howdy Doody. And third, there’s a box of Grandma Reine’s famous double-decker bars in the fridge labeled “Do Not Touch.”

Well, what would you do? Dessert eats those bars. Unfortunately, they were supposed to help celebrate her grandmother’s birthday, and Dessert ends up having to find a way to apologize to her family.

That’s the premise of Dessert First (Simon and Schuster, 2009), the debut novel of Hallie Durand.  And how Dessert says she’s sorry makes for an enjoyable read. (Hint: It involves sacrifice, fund-raising and baking.)

Today’s reviewer is Julia, who admits she’s quite fond of dessert. Take it away, Julia!

Our reviewer: Julia

Age: 7

I like: Jumping rope, playing games and recess. I wish recess would never end.

This book was about: A girl named Dessert. Her family has a restaurant and her parents let her eat dessert first. Then, she gives up dessert for two weeks. But her grandmother had a famous recipe for double-decker bars and her mom made them and put a note on them saying not to touch them. But Dessert ate all of them and had to think of a way to say she was sorry.

The best part was when: When Dessert eats dessert after two weeks without it and she learns chocolate isn’t always the best. Her mom says, “There are some things you need to discover for yourself.”

I laughed when: Dessert was supposed to write down what she was giving up and she said, “I don’t feel good.”

This book taught me: Eat dessert last. It’s worth the wait.

I was surprised that: Dessert got the chef at the restaurant to make some double-decker bars to make up for the ones she ate. And they even got added to the menu.

Three words that best describe this book are: “Dessert.” “Dessert.” “Dessert.”

My favorite line or phrase in this book is: How Dessert signed her name and then drew a maraschino cherry after it.

If you’d like to learn more about author Hallie Durand, read this interview.

So what’s YOUR favorite dessert? Julia likes cherry lollipops, and she wouldn’t be especially excited about giving those up for two weeks.