In this endearing story by Newberry Medal-winner Sharon Creech, a wise old Italian granny skillfully imparts life advice (and cooking lessons) to her winning but sometimes obstinate 12-year-old granddaughter.

Best known for Walk Two Moons and The Wanderer, Creech makes good use of another inventive format: Rosie's story unfolds first, over making and eating zuppa, and then Granny Torrelli tells parallel stories from her own childhood to help Rosie with her current predicament. Granny Torrelli's tales are laced with endearing, fun-to-say Italian: "I didn't like it, not one piccolino bit," as is her attempt to help Rosie mend her rift with her best friend Bailey ("That Bailey boy!"), for whom she's starting to feel more-than-friendship feelings.

The details of both Rosie's and Granny Torrelli's respective stories are often quite funny (from Braille jealousy to secret guide-dog training for the legally blind Bailey). But, as usual, what Creech does best is slyly proffer small, nourishing morsels of wisdom--not unlike the cavatelli, the "little dough canoes," that Rosie, Granny Torrelli, and that Bailey boy labor over in the book's sweet second half. Just be warned that you might find yourself starving by the end of the story. (Ages 9 to 12) --Paul Hughes

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7-Tastes and smells emerge along with wisdom and insight as a grandmother and grandchild reveal experiences past and present in the warmth of the kitchen. Rosie and Bailey are neighbors, born only a week apart. They are like sister and brother, only better "because I chose him and he chose me." She has always been his helper as he was born visually impaired. But now they have had a falling out. As Rosie tells Granny, Bailey is acting spiteful, all because she tried to be just like him. To be just like Bailey-her buddy, her pal-Rosie secretly learned to read Braille and unknowingly took away the special thing only he could do. When the two of them come together with Granny Torrelli in the kitchen and make cavatelli, the rift between them heals. Stories and wisdom continue as sauce and meatballs are made, helping to clarify feelings. As family and friends raise a glass of water to toast the cooks, Rosie realizes that her world is indeed bigger as is Bailey's; that tutto va bene-all is well! Twelve-year-old Rosie's narration seamlessly integrates Granny Torrelli's stories and fleeting conversations in short chapters. Her authentic voice gradually reveals what has happened and the accompanying emotions ranging from anger and angst to happiness and contentment. The integration of the Italian kitchen and Granny's family stories from the old country add flavor just like the ingredients in her recipes. This is a meal that should not be missed.Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at District of Columbia Public LibraryCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
"Tutto va bene," says Granny Torrelli, and all is well for Rosie and her neighborhood friends, but not without angst and a deeper appreciation of the vicissitudes of friendship. Creech is masterful as she weaves the parallel lives of Rosie and her grandmother into a warm kitchen fabric with all the smells, companionship, and healing powers of the cooking experience. Each of Rosie's acquaintances passes through the kitchen to help and add a distinct flavor. Donna Murphy takes Creech's pacing and conversation and creates something more. She sparkles in her characterizations: Granny Torrelli exudes spunk and wisdom; Rosie personifies impetuousness and eventual understanding. Murphy's Italian inflection and storytelling delight the ear. This is a listening treasure. A.R. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Gr. 4-6. This story of a friendship, told around food and delivered in small, digestible bites, is a tasty treat. As 12-year-old Rosie makes zuppa with her grandmother, she struggles with her feelings about her best friend, Bailey. Moving adroitly from the past to the present, Rosie tells about her lifelong friendship with Bailey, and how, when it became clear that he was blind, she did everything in her power to help him--sometimes suffocating him with her good intentions. As she makes the soup, she talks to Granny, who has her own story, about a dear friend from the old country, Pardo, which echoes Rosie and Bailey's relationship. Another story unfolds as Rosie, Bailey, and Granny make pasta: a new girl, moves into the neighborhood, and suddenly Rosie has a rival for Bailey's affection. Not surprisingly, something similar happened to Granny and Pardo. This gets high marks for its unique voice (make that voices) and for the way the subtleties that are woven into the story. Each character adds flavor, but the story's strength comes mostly from Rosie--bossy, loving, and willing to see both the error of her ways and the possibilities for the future. Chris Raschka contributes a colorful jacket painting and a few inside sketches to brighten things up even more. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description

Bailey, who is usually so nice, Bailey, my neighbor, my friend, my buddy, my pal for my whole life, knowing me better than anybody, that Bailey, that Bailey I am so mad at right now, that Bailey, I hate him today.

Twelve-year-old Rosie and her best friend, Bailey, don't always get along, that's true. But Granny Torrelli seems to know just how to make things right again with her warm words and family recipes. She understands from experience that life's twists and turns can't rattle the unique bond between two lifelong pals.

Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech cooks up a delightfully tender novel, filled with homemade dishes and secret recipes. It's easy to remember what's important about love, life, and friendship while Granny Torrelli makes soup.

Card catalog description
With the help of her wise old grandmother, twelve-year-old Rosie manages to work out some problems in her relationship with her best friend, Bailey, the boy next door.

About the Author
Sharon Creech is the Newbery Medal-winning author of Walk Two Moons. Her other novels include The Wanderer, a Newbery Honor Book, Bloomability, Absolutely Normal Chaos, Chasing Redbird, and Pleasing The Ghost. She has also written two picture books, A Fine, Fine School and Fishing In The Air. After spending eighteen years teaching and writing in Europe, Sharon Creech and her husband have returned to the United States to live.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Soup, pasta, and Granny Torrelli's wisdom are food for the soul in this hearteningly stirring, friendship-affirming novel from Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech. A sort of culinary Camp David filled with old-world charm, Granny Torrelli's kitchen is a delicious mix of cooking, storytelling, and understanding for 12-year-old Rosie and her visually impaired best friend, Bailey. After Rosie attempts to learn Braille in order to impress Bailey, bad feelings arise, and Bailey starts to focus more attention on a new girl who's moved into the neighborhood. Knowing the recipe for good friends, Granny Torrelli brings them together to cook zuppa and pasta, gently directing the preparation as she tells stories of yesteryear about jealous friends and forgiveness -- all of which bears a striking resemblance to Rosie and Bailey's situation. By the end, Rosie and Bailey understand each other better, and -- along with their two families and the new girl -- sit down for a jubilant meal made with hard work and lots of love.

Blending all the right ingredients for young and old readers alike, Creech's novel serves up a masterful array of emotion. The author's expert use of language is remarkable, with telling actions and understated phrases yielding powerful scenes that make Creech herself ever-present. This tasty morsel of a book is sure to leave readers' appetites whetted and their spirits strengthened. Matt Warner

ANNOTATION

With the help of her wise old grandmother, twelve-year-old Rosie manages to work out some problems in her relationship with her best friend, Bailey, the boy next door.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Twelve-year-old Rosie and her best friend, Bailey, don't always get along, that's true. But Granny Torrelli seems to know just how to make things right again with her warm words and family recipes. She understands from experience that life's twists and turns can't rattle the unique bond between two lifelong pals.

Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech cooks up a delightfully tender novel, filled with homemade dishes and secret recipes. It's easy to remember what's important about love, life, and friendship while Granny Torrelli makes soup.

FROM THE CRITICS

The Washington Post

… Newbery Medal-winner Sharon Creech is responsible for this recipe, and everyone knows there's hardly a more seductive writer in the business. — Elizabeth Ward

Publishers Weekly

In a starred review, PW said, "A warm kitchen filled with inviting aromas sets the scene for this heartfelt novel celebrating friendship and family ties." Ages 8-12. (Feb.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Susie Wilde

The way Sharon Creech writes about relationships is as spicy and comforting as a good pot of soup. In her newest novel, Granny Torrelli Makes Soup, she uses two tasty main ingredients. The first is twelve-year-old Rosie. Rosie is concerned about her relationship with Bailey, a visually impaired boy with whom she's been friends since they were babies. Their birthdays are only a week apart and Rosie has always felt secure and comforted by their close friendship. "I pretended he was my brother, only he was better than a brother because I chose him and he chose me." But suddenly there are changes. Bailey's responses and her own surprise, confuse, and upset Rosie. It is obvious to readers that her insecurity, envy, confusion and self-consciousness are typical feelings adolescence stirs up. Most adolescents suffer in silence, but fortunate Rosie has a solution to her problems. Rosie has always cared for Bailey, but suddenly his need for independence and self-expression results in anger and withdrawal that hurts Rosie. Her confusion brings her to Granny Torrelli, the second special ingredient of Creech's book. Thank goodness for this loving Italian granny. She is always accessible and full of empathy. She offers instructive and entertaining stories from her own life and the wisdom of her views while preparing a big pot of soup, or mixing up pasta. Conversation happens more easily as Granny Torrelli and Rosie chop vegetables for zuppa! They fling these vegetables into the pot, and soon they simmer into "a good smell bubbling in the kitchen." It is only then that Granny Torrelli asks, "Okay Rose, what's going on with you?" She won't accept Rosie's typical teenage answer of,"Nothing's going on with me." Granny Torrelli is not fooled by Rosie's "smart head" and wonders again "what's making your eyes so inside-looking?" Mixing her charming Italian-flavored English with obvious caring, Granny Torrelli quickly gets to the heart of Rosie's problems. She listens attentively, offers parables from her own life, and then ladles out steaming soup. Her timing is perfect, whether she is adding ingredients, or leaving time for Rosie to sort herself out as she goes to the bathroom to "take a pause". Creech again triumphs at exposing the tender subtleties and delicacies of changing relationships through what she leaves unsaid. Granny Torrelli's stories are full of teaching, but both the wise elderly woman and the author leave room for the characters and the readers to draw their own conclusions. Readers will also find the form of the book pleasing, for Creech has organized this story into small delicious bites of short chapters with large margins. A sprinkling of illustrations by Chris Raschka adds zest. 2003, HarperCollins, Ages 8 to 12.

KLIATT - Claire Rosser

Creech is the winner of the Newbery Medal for Walk Two Moons, and she also wrote The Wanderer, a Newbery Honor winner. This short story tells a lot with few words. As Rosie and her grandmother make soup and pasta, Rosie tells her grandmother her troubles and grandmother shares stories about parallel troubles when she was a girl in Italy. Rosie is 12 years old and has lived in the same neighborhood most of her life. Her best friend is Bailey, who is blind; they have been close friends and playmates since they were tiny. Now their relationship is subtly changing, as is clear when a new girl moves in and is interested in befriending Bailey, an attractive boy. Rosie is jealous, but doesn't really want to admit she herself is interested in Bailey as a boyfriend, maybe. The fact that Bailey is blind has raised some tension between the friends over the years. Rosie, for instance, was envious when Bailey learned to read Braille, feeling left behind...so she learns it on her own and feels proud. Bailey's reaction is fierce: he first thinks she has cheated and actually is reading a "regular book"; then when the truth hits him, he says, "You think you're pretty smart, don't you, Rosie?"￯﾿ﾽand slams the door on her. Of course, what follows is a conversation between Rosie and Granny Torrelli, in which Granny confesses her stubbornness long ago with her best friend￯﾿ﾽand the two take soup next door to Bailey and his mother and Bailey apologizes to Rosie. Rosie remembers another time when she was younger and she tried to get a guide dog for Bailey by concealing a stray dog in the garage. This is a charming, amusing book. It's for the 10￯﾿ﾽ12 age group, but perhaps it could stretch to 13 and 14-year-oldstudents who are reluctant readers, because although the words aren't complicated, the interchanges between Bailey and Rosie and Granny Torrelli are more profound than they first appear to be, and would be good for class discussions. KLIATT Codes: J￯﾿ﾽRecommended for junior high school students. 2003, HarperCollins, 141p.,

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