Laura Shovan – författare

A timely, accessible, and beautifully written story exploring themes of food, friendship, family and what it means to belong, featuring sixth graders Sara, a Pakistani American, and Elizabeth, a white, Jewish girl taking a South Asian cooking class taught by Saras mom.Sixth graders Sara and Elizabeth could not be more different. Sara isat a new school that is completely unlike the small Islamic school she used to attend. Elizabeth has her own problems: her British mum has been struggling with depression.The girls meet in an after-school South Asian cooking class, which Elizabeth takes because her mom has stopped cooking, and which Sara, who hates to cook, is forced to attend because her mother is the teacher. The girls form a shaky alliance that gradually deepens, and they make plans tocreatethe most amazing, mouth-watering cross-cultural dish together and win a spot on a local food show.They make good cooking partners... but can they learn to trust each other enough to become true friends?

Laura Shovan’s engaging, big-hearted debut is a time capsule of one class’s poems during a transformative school year. Families change and new friendships form as these terrific kids grow up and move on in this whimsical novel-in-verse about finding your voice and making sure others hear it. Eighteen kids,one year of poems,one school set to close.Two yellow bulldozerscrouched outside,ready to eat the buildingin one greedy gulp. But look out, bulldozers.Ms. Hill’s fifth-grade classhas plans for you.They’re going to speak up and work togetherto save their school.

Discover what happens when one girl wants to break barriers in a sport dominated by boys in this exciting and thoughtful novel by the author of The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary.Mikayla is a wrestler; when you grow up in a house full of brothers who wrestle, it''s inevitable. It''s also a way to stay connected to her oldest brother, Evan, who moved in with their dad. Some people are objecting to having to having a girl on the team. But that''s not stopping Mikayla. She''s determined to work harder than ever, and win. Lev is determined to make it to the state championships this year. He''s used to training with his two buddies as the Fearsome Threesome; they know how to work together. At the beginning of sixth grade, he''s paired with a new partner--a girl. This better not get in the way of his goal. Mikayla and Lev work hard together and become friends. But when they face each other, only one of them can win.