The Summer Kitchen (Blue Sky Hill Series) [Paperback]

Lisa Wingate (Author)

Book Description

Series: Blue Sky Hill Series | Publication Date: July 7, 2009

From the author of A Month of Summer, an inspiring new novel in the Blue Sky Hill series about one woman's effect on a struggling Dallas neighborhood.

With her adopted son missing and the rest of her family increasingly estranged, Sandra Kaye Darden is drawn to the little pink house where her Uncle Poppy once provided security. What begins for Sandra as a simple painting project, meant to prepare the house for sale, becomes a secret venture that eventually changes everything.

Cass Blue is having trouble keeping food on the table since she ditched foster care. When Sandra Kaye shows up with lunch one day, Cass has no way of knowing that the meeting will lead to the creation of a place of refuge that could reunite a divided community.

In this moving story of second chances, two unlikely allies realize their ability to make a difference...and the power of what becomes known as the Summer Kitchen to nourish the soul.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Wingate''s novels [are] like those of Nicholas Sparks and Richard Paul Evans."
-The Eagle (Bryan-College Station, TX)

About the Author

Lisa Wingate writes both Accent novels and contemporary romances for NAL.  She lives with her husband and two sons in the central Texas hill country, where she is a popular inspirational speaker, writing instructor, and magazine columnist.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 354 pages
• Publisher: NAL Trade (July 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451226933
• ISBN-13: 978-0451226938
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lisa Wingate is a magazine columnist, inspirational speaker, and the author of a host of mainstream fiction novels, including the national bestseller, Tending Roses, which is currently in its fourteenth reprint. Her books have been featured selections for Doubleday and Literary Guild book clubs, selected for The Reader's Club of America, and have garnered LORIES Best Fiction and Reader's Choice Awards, and been nominated for the ACFW Book of the Year Award. Recently, the group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with Bill Ford, Camille Cosby, and six others, as recipients of the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life. Lisa loves sharing with readers via Facebook, Youtube, and her website. More information about Lisa's novels can be found at www.Lisawingate.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wingate Continues to Inspire, July 15, 2009

By 

C Quilts (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Summer Kitchen (Blue Sky Hill Series) (Paperback)

Once again, Lisa Wingate writes a beautiful story of everyday people, mixes in life lessons, wonderful quotes, and demonstrates that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

I often refer to her as the most inspirational writer of our time. I love how she always makes the reader think about others, and how the events happening in one's life will often change our outlook for the better.

This is a story about a successful Dr's wife that one day sees life through the eyes of seemingly forgotten children. With a loaf of bread, and some peanut butter and jelly, the people and the story are knit together beautifully. Excellent read.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Summer Kitchen by Lisa Wingate, July 9, 2009

By 

Ed Stevens - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Summer Kitchen (Blue Sky Hill Series) (Paperback)

The Summer Kitchen is Lisa Wingate's new exciting and inspirational book! It is one of those straight through books-Can't put it down until finished.

Seventeen year old Rusty and his twelve year old sister, Cass Salley Blue, runaway from home just after their mother's funeral, to avoid foster care. Barely earning enough to keep a place to live and food on the table, they end up in a dilapidated apartment in a struggling section of Dallas. SandraKaye Darden is preparing her deceased uncle's little red house for sale. The house is located near Cass and Rusty's apartment.

The Summer Kitchen is laced with inspirational quotes. Cass Salley Blue: "Some lady told me once that when you don't like where you are, you could close your eyes and think of the place you'd rather be...If you believed it enough she said, it'd be just like you were there. A mind trip she called it."
"If the mountain's big, you gotta dream bigger, Cass Salley Blue. Nothing is impossible if you've got enough faith. You remember that."

Cass Salley Blue and Opel in her new "tshoos" will be long remembered!

This is a very special book by an extraordinary author! A book that hopefully makes it to the movies soon.

I highly recommend "the Summer Kitchen"!


Ed

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On The Blind Side, April 7, 2010

By 

Pat M (CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Summer Kitchen (Blue Sky Hill Series) (Paperback)

I loved this book the same way I loved The Blind Side. Just a fantastic, inspirational story about a woman who recognizes a need in a difficult neighborhood and in a young runaway. This book was a journey, and it makes you believe that you can go out and make a difference. Well written, and you feel like you're right there with the characters.