Tristan isn’t as smart or as perfect as his sister, Janine, and he is okay with it, for the most part. Janine can’t make a perfect chocolate chip cookie like Tristan, and she certainly can’t do more than simple baking. Tristan prides himself on his baking ability and his home in the greatest city in the world. His world turns upside down when his parents decide to move to rural New York, where no one knows him and there are barely any kids his age. While exploring the tiny town center, Tristan discovers an old doughnut shop and tries to enter. Upon finding the place permanently closed, he asks a local about the store. The local regales Tristan with the story of the town before the shop closed, and the famous chocolate cream doughnut that changed the town forever. The recipe is now lost, but Tristan is determined to remake the legendary doughnut and restart the sleepy town.
I really liked The Doughnut Fix, and overall felt it was a solid read. Meant for middle-grade readers, I finished this book fairly quickly, and I look forward to the sequel. The character development was minimal, but it is a feel-good story meant to tell a tall tale and move on, so I think it fits the book. While this book did have a main focus, there were several smaller storylines that did intertwine nicely with the main story. This book was similar to The Lemonade War and had the same feel as those perspectives most of the time. I would recommend this book to middle schoolers who like fiction and realistic stories, and anyone who likes to bake. This book earns a solid four out of five stars, as it is a great book, although it wasn’t my personal favorite.