Midsummer's Mayhem - Rajani LaRocca - ★★★★

AUTHOR: Rajani LaRocca

GENRE: MG Fantasy, Retelling

RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: A middle-grade fantasy retelling of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. Loads of fun, though I don’t know if youngsters will appreciate the adapted elements. Don’t read this book when hungry!

Story Synopsis:

Eleven-year-old Mimi is the youngest in her family, and according to her, the least talented. Her father is an accomplished food writer, her mother a successful entrepreneur, and her three elder siblings also shine at whatever they do, be it dance or drama or sports or playing an instrument.

The only thing that Mimi can do decently is bake. Her dream is to become a celebrity chef like her idol, Puffy Fay, who is from the same town.

When a local café announces a baking contest, with the grand prize being an internship with Fay himself, Mimi knows that she has to do her best to win it. But her dad has suddenly lost his gastronomic abilities after a recent trip and her siblings are acting funny, so Mimi has to rely on her new friend Vik, a boy who she meets in an unexplored part of the woods near her home, for help and ideas.

Will Mimi be able to fulfil her dream?

The book is written in the first person perspective of Mimi.

What with men and women placing strange bets and chasing each other for love, the original Shakespearean work is not exactly middle-grade friendly despite its comic elements. It is a complicated storyline and with quite a few characters. (I remember how irked I had been to discover that the three female leads all had names beginning with H - Hermia, Hippolyta, and Helena. So confusing!)

To take such a story and adapt it to a middle-grade audience needs talent. To do so in your debut work needs guts. This author seems to have both in abundance.

I won’t reveal much about how the Shakespearean content has been modified and incorporated into this book. It is worth experiencing for yourself. I'm not sure if middle graders will actually get all the nuances of this retelling without being aware of the original work; I know hardly any middle-grader who reads Shakespeare! To them, this will just be a hilariously entertaining story filled with magic and humorous scenes (There are quite a few of those!). If any adult readers want to try this novel, then they are also in for a treat, but they will be able to appreciate the creative choices better if familiar with the original. (If reading Shakespeare is a scary idea, just read a summary of the play online. That ought to suffice.)

The book doesn’t restrict itself to being a blind scene-by-scene adaptation but brings in several novel factors. Mimi’s passion for baking is explored well in almost every chapter. I adored how the author utilised her own Indian roots to add a desi ‘flavour’ to the baked goodies. (Tbh, I also despised this choice because reading about all those yummy Indian delicacies left my stomach growling! I mean, if a book talks about scones and cream puffs, my reaction is almost nonexistent. But bring kulfi and gulab jamun in the medley, and I will drool more than a Saint Bernard does. 😋😋😋 If only AI were advanced enough for us to put our hand in a book and pull out an edible version of the dish mentioned in the book. 😟)

At times, the proceedings do seem too exaggerated, but I suppose even the original Shakespearean work can be tagged as farfetched from start to end. In that sense, this adaptation stays true to the original spirit. The ending, however, goes way too far, is quite rushed, and doesn’t explain all the strange occurrences; this is the main reason my rating dipped. Until then, I was perched comfortably on the 4.5 star mark.

Nevertheless, this is a commendable debut – entertaining as well as containing several moral choices for kids to ponder upon. There is a glossary of all the food and baking terminology at the end of the book, along with a couple of Mimi’s tried-and-tested baking recipes.

A shoutout to that gorgeous cover art - perfect for the book in every way!

Almost forgot to mention - the book is illustrated and I loved the sketches!

Definitely recommend this amazing MG work. Maybe kids will not be so scared of Shakespeare after reading this. Who knows?! 😉