April 25th, 2010: It’s 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Are you drinking a cup of tea? If not, then go grab yourself a cup of Chai or some Chamomile, sit down with a good book or friend and relax. Recently, author of The Teashop Girls, Laura Schaefer sent me a copy of her debut novel about first jobs, first crushes, and growing up a little bit along the way.
Even though The Teashop Girls was written for for girls between 8-14, it was a great book for me to read as well. The story of Annie Green and her love for tea can compel anyone to drop what they are doing, sip on a nice cup of tea and eat a cucumber sandwich. Annie is at an age where she no longer wants to be treated like a child but is not quite an adult. She has have a love for tea and her grandmother’s teashop, so she takes a job working for her grandmother to learn about the business and more of the history behind tea.
Sadly, there is an increase of competition from a new coffee chain across the street, so the Steeping Leaf’s future is on the rocks and could possibly close forever. Annie takes it upon her self to save the shop, while dealing with life as an eighth grader, saving her lifelong friendships, boys and her wacky family.
I plan on saving this book for Luci to read when she is old enough for chapter books because it is good wholesome reading for girls in middle school. In the meantime, I am going to try out some of the recipes that Laura has put into the book between chapters. When you think of afternoon tea, there is a recipe for all things that go along with it, like tea, tiny sandwiches and scones. My little 2 year old loves having her own tea parties, so I cannot wait till we can use real tea and scones for our own afternoon teas.
This book made me a little nostalgic of a simpler time when all I had to worry about was school, friends and boys. I really enjoyed reading this book and suggest that even if you buy it for your daughter or friend that you pick up a copy for yourself!
A Little Bit about Laura Schaefer
Laura loves to write almost as much as she likes to drink tea. She got her start as a contributor to the University of Wisconsin’s student paper The Daily Cardinal and went on to write regularly for The Princeton Review and Match.com. Laura is the author of Man with Farm Seeks Woman with Tractor (Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2005). She lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her enormous cat Ramona and she can usually be found dancing the lindy hop. Her favorite type of tea is English Breakfast with lots of milk and sugar.
BUY IT: Want your own copy to give to a girl that you know who might enjoy a tale about tea and life, then head on over to Amazon.com to purchase your own book!
Disclosure: Living My MoMent was given a free copy of The Teashop Girls by Laura Schaefer in exchange for an honest product review.
