Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 09/01/2023 Gr 4–6—The premise of Baptist's latest will be familiar to all middle grade readers. Zoe, a highly motivated Black girl in sixth grade, has set her sights on selling the most cookie dough in her all-school fundraiser. As an aspiring journalist with computer problems, she wants to claim the campus top-seller prize, a laptop computer, and has plenty of competition to keep her busy. Zoe must learn to keep her fiercely competitive personality in check and remember that people and relationships are more important than winning a contest, even though she sees it as beneficial to her family in the long run. Middle grade readers will enjoy Zoe's quick comebacks and witty banter with her best friend, Felix, and her older brother, Mark. Baptist crafts a spunky, focused female character who has tons of drive, great goals, and funny insight. The book ends as expected and exemplifies the mindset that goals are always achievable if one works hard—which may not be completely realistic but makes for a fun read. This title will appeal to readers who enjoy books with confident, empowered female protagonists like Kelly Yang's Front Desk and Janae Marks's From the Desk of Zoe Washington, and also to reluctant readers who enjoy a succinct, tight story. VERDICT A fun, relatable realistic fiction title recommended for all middle grade readers and collections.—Kim Gardner - Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 09/15/2023 Sixth-grader Zoe Sparks is on a mission to sell more cookie dough than anyone else at her school and win the coveted Horizon WordPro GT, the laptop of her dreams. Zoe is an aspiring journalist, but her family can’t afford a new computer. With the help of her best friend, Felix, Zoe sets out to sell enough tubs of dough to win the contest and outsell her classmate, Amaya, whose family already has enough money to buy her a new computer. Zoe becomes consumed with reaching her goal, and it comes at a cost. She must take on the responsibility of managing all the orders and money, which she fumbles, and deal with the strain that her tunnel vision puts on her family and friends. It’s enough to make anyone hate cookie dough. Partially inspired by Baptist’s own experiences with school fundraisers, Zoe’s story has some rousing moments—like when her community rallies to help her sales—and touches on the necessity of school fundraisers in the first place. - Copyright 2023 Booklist.