This debut novel is quaint and charming and reminds readers of days gone by when polite people sat down for tea and conversation. In a world before text messages, IM, and multi-tasking, tea calmed the nerves, soothed the soul, and fed the mind.
Annie Green has always loved tea. That's because of her eccentric and charismatic grandmother Louisa who runs the off-kilter tea shop where tea is still brewed one pot at a time from aromatic tea leaves imported from far-away and exotic foreign places NOT tea from a mass marketed tea bag! Annie and her life-long friends Zoe and Genna have always called themselves the Teashop Girls. The three of them are inseparable and vow to stick together and honor the tradition of their weekly tea at Louisa's shop, The Steeping Leaf. Eighth grade changes all of this. Genna and Zoe have other interests, and soon Annie takes a part-time job at the tea shop and realizes her grandmother is in serious debt and may lose the beloved shop.
The Teashop Girls come together to develop a business plan for Louisa. A cute boy named Jonathan takes a job as a barrista. Neighborhood trouble-maker Zach gives Annie a hard time and seems to be everywhere she goes. Can Annie save the shop? Will she catch Jonathan's eye and possibly score a date? Can she ever get rid of pesky Zach?
Recommended for YA and younger, grades 5-8. Girls will love Annie and the Steeping Leaf. Annie includes recipes for Cucumber Sandwiches, party ideas, and even beauty remedies using, you guessed it, tea! 250 pages Ages 9-13
Just posted to my blog at https://booksbypamelathompson.blogspot.com/
Contributed by : Pamela Thompson, MLIS Library Media Specialist, Col. John O. Ensor Middle School
************
As eighth grade comes to a close, lifelong friends Annie, Genna , and Zoe are growing up and , though they’d hate to admit it, beginning to grow apart. That’s where the official rules of the Teashop Girls come in. 1. Teashop girls are best friends forever. 2. Tea is held every week, no matter what. 3. All tea and scones must be split equally at all times.
Annie has waited for the right time to ask her grandmother Louisa if she can work at The Steeping Leaf, her grandmother’s tea shop. Unfortunately, things are not going well at the tea shop and her grandmother might lose her shop. So Annie, and her two friends Genna and Zoe, the original Tea Shop Girls, come up with a plan to save the Steeping Leaf. But it looks like Annie has been too focused on the plan and not focused enough on her friends. Will she lose everything? This is a great friendship story and a story that celebrates beginning with the end in mind and having a plan.
Recommended by Alice Cyphers, Librarian, Pennsylvania USA
