My Chocolate Year: A Novel with 12 Recipes

What a gem of a book! MY CHOCOLATE YEAR by Charlotte Herman starts out as a sweet story about 10-year-old Dorrie, who is a fifth-grader in Chicago just after the end of World War II. Dorrie is excited about the annual "Sweet Semester" contest run by her teacher. Every student is to plan a special dessert, which they will bring in to class at the end of the semester for a contest. The students sample each other's desserts and vote on the best one. They also write an essay explaining their choice of dessert, and their teacher judges the best essay. Dorrie has been looking forward to her chance at winning Sweet Semester since her older brother, Artie, participated when he was in fifth grade. She is determined to win, and the book is interspersed with her attempts at various concoctions. It even includes actual recipes for some of the desserts, including Peppermint Chocolate Sticks and a scrumptious-sounding Chocolate Nut Torte. While Dorrie is focused on the contest and on finding that perfect recipe, her family is adjusting to post-war life. They are Russian Jews who managed to escape the Holocaust, but not all of their relatives were so lucky. It sounds like a surprisingly sad topic to combine with the lightweight feel of the dessert contest, but author Herman executes this integration flawlessly. In fact, her inclusion of the cultural elements of post-World War II Chicago make reading this book educational without ever feeling like it. For instance, I had no idea that there used to be "silver" pennies, or that chocolate chip cookies were invented by a woman named Ruth Wakefield, or that sugar was rationed. It also makes perfect sense to show this time and place in American life through the eyes of a fifth-grader, and of course she is more focused on her big contest at school than with the letters her parents receive from relatives overseas. Dorrie does have a big heart, though, and it is that heart and conscience that guides her to what she eventually chooses as her entry for Sweet Semester. Reviewed by: Marie Robinson

In 1946, ten year old Dorrie enters a new school year with pep in her step. She is made all the more giddy at the prospect of the Sweet Semester, a tradition established by her teacher in which her students bake up a little something. Dorrie plans to make something involving chocolate, but what? Throughout the story, Dorrie tests out different recipes, listens carefully to the immigration stories of her parents and relatives, and melts at the sight of the perfect junior bridesmaid dress. Dorrie is surrounded by friends and family. Her mother lovingly makes her special dress for her Aunt Esther's wedding. Her father works for a mattress company because, as a young boy during the war, he had to wear his day clothes to bed in case of evacuation and he dreamt of sleeping in pajamas. Her grandmother speaks only in Yiddish and Dorrie only in English, but they understand each other quite well. Rounding out the cast are Dorrie's older brother Artie, her best friend Sunny, Uncle Louie the hopeful business owner, and her cousin Victor, who lost his immediate family and was labeled a DP (a displaced person) in his home country, but is now coming to America. My Chocolate Year by Charlotte Herman includes twelve recipes and is peppered with black-and-white illustrations by LeUyen Pham. It is a sweet story for elementary school readers and was partly inspired by the author's own family and childhood.

The year is 1945. Dorrie Meyers and her best friend, Sunny Shapiro are finally in the fifth grade. And while they're usually good students; the best friends have decided that this year they will be the best students ever because they finally have Miss Fitzgerald as their teacher, and that means one very important thing...Sweet Semester! Miss Fitzgerald is known for throwing her yearly Sweet Semester for fifth graders. It's a time for her students to make a sweet dessert of their own, and proceed to write an essay about why it means so much to them. Dorrie Meyers has been awaiting the opportunity to participate in Sweet Semester ever since her older brother, Artie did. But now that her chance has finally arrived, she has absolutely no clue what to make - let alone write about. That doesn't bother Dorrie, however. Dorrie is the resident chocolate queen. She knows everything there is about chocolate, and will eat just about anything that has chocolate in it - except for chocolate gum. Therefore, it's obvious to Dorrie that whatever she makes, it will have loads and loads of chocolate in it. But while Dorrie would love to concentrate solely on chocolate and Sweet Semester, the current affairs of the world are making it difficult to do so. Overseas, millions of children and starving and finding themselves displaced from their families; at home, however, things aren't much better. While her father is running a thriving mattress company, and her mother is quite comfortable spending her days doing chores, running errands, and cooking up all kinds of delicious foods in the kitchen, not everyone in Dorrie's family is doing so well. As a member of a Jewish family, some of Dorrie's relatives are stuck under Hitler's rule, being harshly treated as a part of the Holocaust, and her mother and Bubbie spend much of their time worrying about whether or not these individuals are still alive. As much as Dorrie would love to help these people - even though she hasn't met them - she can't think of anything to do that could turn their lives around. Except bake, of course. Originally I picked up Charlotte Herman's MY CHOCOLATE YEAR thinking that it was another book being placed on the market as part of the "foodie" craze; but it was quite evident that I was wrong after reading just one chapter. While MY CHOCOLATE YEAR provides readers with some fun chocolate-induced recipes to try out, it spends more time telling the tale of a Jewish family in Chicago, trying to make a living in the harsh 1940's, and even goes so far as to briefly discuss Hitler and the Holocaust, and the people suffering at his hands. Dorrie is such a delightful character, whose determination to create the best dessert ever, while, at the same time collect money for starving children overseas is admirable, and makes you love her more and more with each page turned. I especially loved the fact that Herman has concocted a story that is anything but catty. With so many books on the market nowadays highl

My Chocolate Year is a sweet homage to food and how it brings families together. It's September, 1945 in Chicago. World War II has just ended, and the fifth grade has just begun for chocolate-lover Dorrie Meyers. Dorrie is particularly excited about this school year because her class will participate in the Sweet Semester baking and essay contest. The winners will get their picture in the paper. Dorrie really wants to win, but first she's going to have to learn to bake and figure out what she'll write in the essay. My Chocolate Year is a charming story of food, family and world history. While at moments a bit sappy, it provides kids with some very basic details of the holocaust without being too horrific. Add in some interesting little historical tidbits like calling the refrigerator the Frigidaire and the creation of the silver penny due to a copper shortage, and you have a solid story that provides many jumping points for discussions of World War II. The inclusion of the various recipes is also a nice touch. For many children, their first sense of their family history comes by what food is served at the dinner table. Not to mention, I can't wait to make the chocolate nut torte on page 131. I'm off to the grocery for supplies. For the rest of this review and others, visit my site.

A wonderful blend of baking and social-history that will appeal to all the girls who enjoy American Girl. Let the aroma of all the tantalizing recipes bring you back in time to the 1940's and into the world of one remarkable family as they are reunited in the aftermath of war. Reminiscent of The All of A Kind Family books, too.