We’re excited to announce Tracey Jaffart has signed with us for her magical middle grade novel, Alex Baker and the Queen of Tarts!
Tracey Jaffart is an author and illustrator of two picture books that spark children’s imagination about nature and discovery, along with an uplifting self-empowerment colouring book for teens and adults. Tracey, born in Texas, currently lives in England with her French husband, while their son embarks on his master’s studies in Dublin. She previously lived in Germany for nineteen years and was a librarian at a bilingual school in Munich for sixteen years, where she spent her days championing stories and curious minds.
Alex Baker and the Queen of Tarts is a contemporary middle-grade adventure whipped full of magical realism and frosted with a fantastical baking twist inspired by the world of Alice in Wonderland.
Twenty-five years ago, the Baker family of Wonderland was banished to the Real World after one teeny-tiny disastrous baking mishap. Every week since, they’ve sent Dessert-Offerings down a rabbit-hole – in a magical dumbwaiter, of course – hoping to entice the Queen of Tarts to let them come home. After the Queen’s final refusal, the Bakers decide to accept their fate. However, eleven-year-old Alex absolutely and positively refuses to.
Cursed to be a Baker who can’t bake, Alex unexpectedly discovers a spark of impossible magic. With his best friend Mai cheering him on, he secretly joins a summer baking club, determined to craft an enchanted pastry so irresistible it will fool the Queen and finally reverse his family’s misfortune. But with a show-off rival stirring up trouble and Alex’s secrets bubbling over, he’ll have to find his true baking magic fast – before his big chance collapses like a wobbly layer cake – along with his family’s hopes of ever returning to Wonderland.
