Larissa's Breadbook Baking Bread And Telling Tales With Women Of The American South [Paperback]

Lorraine Johnson-Coleman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2001

Do you ever wonder what makes the South one of the most incredible places on Earth? As Larissa discovers, it's the awe-inspiring women. In this engaging story, ten remarkable women from rich and varied cultures share their words, their wit, their wisdom, and their lives.

The language of these women "is colorful and nuanced and often poetic, and the folks whose lives the storyteller enters and exits are complicated and comic, and at the same time often tragic. This community, woven together by the storyteller's enchantments...is moving and memorable." Lois Parkinson Zamora, professor at University of Houston, made those comments about the stories in Just Plain Folks, Lorraine Johnson-Coleman's earlier work. But they could just as easily have been written about the characters in Larissa's BreadBook.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

For this book, Johnson-Coleman, whose earlier Just Plain Folks grew out of an NPR series, created the character of Larissa, a smart 13-year-old who helps out "the ladies" at the senior center one afternoon in preparation for a bake sale at her school; she then collects their stories and recipes for her report. This device allows the author to show that "Southern folks are so much more than...black people and white people only," as her "Miss Bessie" says. The ladies include, among others, a sharecropper's daughter, a Cherokee Indian, an Italian woman, and Lady Patricia, who gives tea parties at the center; the recipes, some 150 in all, are from the various cultures they represent, from Benne Wafers and Fry Bread to Irish Bannock and Breadsticks. Johnson-Coleman's text is readable and the recipes fine; it's perhaps unfair to criticize the book for what it is not, but real oral histories might have worked more effectively to make her point. Nevertheless, this is an interesting collection of stories and recipes, and the author's earlier book was popular. For larger and special collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558538453
• ISBN-13: 978-1558538450
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,772,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Women's history and food... two favorite topics in one book, June 19, 2001

By 

AfroAmericanHeritage (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Larissa's Breadbook Baking Bread And Telling Tales With Women Of The American South (Paperback)

I love this book! It explores and celebrates the rich cultural diversity of the south, through the eyes of a young girl and ten aging women who share their memories...and their recipes. (There are twelve different versions of cornbread...yum!) As the author writes, "...the South was never only black and white, but was always a rich rainbow of ethnic groups..." So you'll find represented here African-American, North European, Italian, Mexican, Cajun, Appalachian, Cherokee and Jewish traditions.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Larissa's Breadbook, February 8, 2010

By 

Mary Ann Hurt "M.A. Hurt" (Boise, Idaho USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Larissa's Breadbook Baking Bread And Telling Tales With Women Of The American South (Paperback)

This book is so much fun to read. Because when I visited the south I fell in love with many of the wonderful breads they served at the restaurants. I searched for this particular book because of reading Eudora Welty's books and Sandra Conner's book and The Secret Life of Bees. This is an amazing book about the South and the women of the South as well. I loved it.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great recipes even though stories were weak, September 30, 2007

By 

Barbara B. (Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Larissa's Breadbook: Ten Incredible Southern Women and Their Stories of Courage, Adventure, and Discovery (Paperback)

When I first started reading this book, I couldn't help thinking that the stories being told -- purportedly by ten Southern women -- didn't sound "real." They sounded false to me, a collection of stereotypes and cliches that didn't ring true.

Half way through, I did a little checking and found out that they WERE false. That is, the book is a collection of fictionalized stories. Even the supposed narrator, a 13-year old girl Larissa, was a fictional creation. That would have been okay with me (especially once I realized it) but unfortunately they all SOUND fictional!

But even given that major flaw, I really liked the book for the recipes and the artwork. Where else would you find a recipe for Cherokee Corn Pones, Sally Lunn bread, Challah, and Banana Tea Loaf all in one place!