The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

A brother that disappears, a father who works all the time, a bored mother who works in a wood shop, and Rose who tastes feelings in food.

"So every food has a feeling, George said when I tried to explain to him about the acidic resentment in the grape jelly."  Page 36

Poor Rose...besides not liking her favorite cake anymore and having an aversion to food because of what the taste brings out, she had to try to stay clear of  her older brother so she wouldn't bother him and "make him flip."  Her brother didn't want any parts of her, but his friend George helped her with finding out what was going on with her taste buds.

With George's help, Rose figured out that she could tell what kind of  mood someone was in and what stage of life the ingredients in food had been simply by tasting the cookie or whatever food she happened to be sampling.  She hated food because of this.  Later on she found out something about her grandfather that gave her some insight into her “problem.”

Rose could taste her mother's feelings in all the food she made each night and found out something that she really didn't want to know about her mother.

The book was a sweet read sharing all the good and bad things that go on in families with the adults and the siblings. It also had some odd situations, which I am still confused about, but on the whole I enjoyed it and will give the book a 4/5.   Overall, a very creative and different idea for a book.