• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7

When Alice agreed to appear in a reality cooking show with her father, she had no idea she'd find herself in the middle of a mystery! Will Alice and her new friends be able to save the show? A light-hearted and funny middle grade novel for fans of Rebecca Stead and Lynda Mullaly Hunt.

Alice Fleck's father is a culinary historian, and for as long as she can remember, she's been helping him recreate meals from the past — a hobby she prefers to keep secret from kids her age. But when her father's new girlfriend enters them into a cooking competition at a Victorian festival, Alice finds herself and her hobby thrust into the spotlight.
And that's just the first of many surprises awaiting her. On arriving at the festival, Alice learns that she and her father are actually contestants on Culinary Combat, a new reality TV show hosted by Tom Truffleman, the most famous and fierce judge on TV! And to make matters worse, she begins to suspect that someone is at work behind the scenes, sabotaging the competition.
It's up to Alice, with the help of a few new friends, to find the saboteur before the entire competition is ruined, all the while tackling some of the hardest cooking challenges of her life . . . for the whole world to see.

RACHELLE DELANEY lives in Vancouver, BC, where she works as a freelance writer, editor and creative writing teacher. The Lost Souls Of Island X is the follow-up to her first novel, The Ship Of Lost Souls, which won the Canadian Authors Association/BookLand Press Emerging Writer Award and was shortlisted for the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize, the Chocolate Lily Book Award and the Red Cedar Book Award. Visit her online at www.rachelledelaney.com.

Rachelle Delaney's profile page

• Nominated, Chocolate Lily Award
• Short-listed, The Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence - Best Juvenile or YA Crime Book

One of Canadian Children's Book Centre's Best Books for Kids and Teens, Fall 2021

“Generous portions of yum for fans of mysteries and mille-feuille.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Detailing fascinating food history and delectable dishes, Delaney serves a toothsome culinary caper amid a gentle, well-balanced portrait of one preteen’s journey toward accepting adaptability and change.” —Publishers Weekly

“Readers who love to watch cooking shows will be thrilled with the descriptions of culinary competitions. There are also very interesting passages about Victorian life and culinary history . . . As Alice begins middle school, she reminds readers what is important in life.” —CM: Canadian Review of Materials