A sweet romantic story about donuts, food trucks, family, and first loves.
It's easy to look at high school senior Oscar Olsson and think: lost. He hates school, struggles to read, and wants nothing to do with college. But Oscar is anything but lost---he knows exactly what he wants and exactly how to get it. Oscar and Farfar, the Swedish grandfather who's raised him, run a food truck together selling rullekebab and munkar, and Oscar wants to finish school so he can focus on the food truck full-time.
It's easy to look at Mary Louise (Lou for short) Messinger and think: driven. AP everything, valedictorian in her sights, and Ivy league college aspirations.
When Lou hijacks Oscar's carefully crafted schedule of independent studies and blocks of time in the Culinary Lab, Oscar is roped into helping Lou complete her over-ambitious, resume-building service project-reducing food waste in Central Adams High School. While Lou stands to gain her Girl Scout Gold Award, Oscar will be faced with a mountain of uneaten school apples and countless hours with a girl he can't stand.
With the finish line in sight, a relationship he never expected, and festival season about to begin (for good), the unthinkable happens, and Oscar's future is anything but certain.
Jared Reck is also the author of A Short History of the Girl Next Door. He lives in Hanover, Pennsylvania, where he's an eighth-grade Language Arts teacher. Learn more about Jared on Twitter at @ReckJ.
“Delightful, with deep, delicious layers and a savory-sweet ending. I gobbled it up.” —Wendelin Van Draanen, award-winning author of
Flipped and
The Running Dream“This book is a literal warm hug for your soul. Reck’s storytelling is an immersive sensory experience and his characters burrow into your heart. Not only will this book make you hungry, it will fill you with joy and leave you wishing to revisit Hej Hej, Oscar and his Farfar time and again.” —Erin Hahn, author of
You’d Be Mine and
More Than Maybe
"A big-hearted look at the way food, love, and family are inextricably linked. This book is a bittersweet tale of following your passion, finding deep connections in unlikely places, and learning you can do more than you even imagined. It is as warm and satisfying as a donut straight from the fryer!" —Peter Bognanni, author of
Things I'm Seeing Without You"It's been a long time since a book's final sentence filled my heart to bursting, but this one did it. Disarmingly poignant and full of warmth,
Donuts and Other Proclamations of Love is a compelling story of found family, delicious food, and all the ways we carry our ever-evolving dreams with us." —Nina Moreno, author of
Don't Date Rosa Santos "Likable, well-rounded characters keep readers turning pages.”
—Kirkus Reviews
