Gut Reaction

Tess Medina is still dealing with the loss of her father when she starts at a new school. One way she is still able to feel close to him is by doing what she does best: baking. He taught her everything she knows. But when tasting her creations causes a deep stabbing pain in her abdomen, she tries to power through and be strong in the same way she powers through her emotional pain. She doesn't mind too much — she's ok with just sharing her baked goods at school in the hopes of making new friends.

Lucky for Tess, her baking skills attract the right kind of attention, and she assembles a rag-tag team to help her taste her new and classic creations in preparation for the Jubilee Flour Junior Baker West Coast competition. This is a chance to redeem herself and prove that she's a star baker. Above all, Tess is desperate to win first place and make her dad proud.

But leading up to the competition, Tess' pain gets worse and worse and she finds that she's avoiding so many foods that she's barely eating. During the competition, the physical pain becomes too great, and Tess is forced to confront everything she was trying desperately to hide.

From Newbery Honor author Kirby Larson and her daughter, debut author Quinn Wyatt, comes a poignant, sometimes silly, and always moving story of coming to grips with grief and finding the sweet filling inside every treat.