As a picky eater myself, I really wanted to enjoy this book. However, it really isn't for me. I struggled to find enjoyment in the school where the novel is set. I didn't understand the strange and bizarre foods kids had to get onboard with in order to be considered 'gifted' and I found the characters dull. I expected humor but instead I was lost and keep stumbling over all the rules and regulations enforced. I also didn't enjoy the food overload. I get that it is about a school were a akey class is eating, but there was nothing else to the ddtory but food, food, and more food. I just need more action and more comedy.

Overall, I found it to be a slow-burn. Although...it was highly descriptive about food; what it looked like, what it smelt like; basically an assault of the senses (so avoid at all costs if you are on a diet). This worked well for drawing the reader in to the fictional world, although there were many instances that pulled you right back out again. However, whilst the concept of the book is rather novel, there might be a reason why it's not been seen before.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

*Note: I was given a free digital copy to read in return for an honest review of the book.

Although I have not personally read The League of Picky Eaters, I selected this book for my 10-year-old daughter to read. She is a very picky eater, and the title piqued her interest. Not enjoying reading, finding anything she would find interesting is a challenge. I’m happy to say this book held her interest from beginning to end. That, in my book (pun intended), automatically rates the book at least 4 stars, which is the same rating my daughter gave the book. I intend to place a paper copy of this book in my classroom library so other children can read it.

Thank you so much for a copy of this book in exchange for honest feedback. I really liked the cover & the theme of this book. This young reader's book is essentially about picky eating, finding your people, and standing proud.

After failing a school Eating test, picky eater Minerva is placed in the lowest eating track of all: Remedial Eating to Change Habits. RETCH class is full of kids with weird personalities and even weirder food preferences. And to make matters worse, Minerva's best friends in the Gifted and Gourmet class no longer speak to her. But soon Minerva finds she is not alone in her pickiness, and forms friendships with her new classmates. And together, they find a way to stand up for themselves--picky and proud!

At face value, one might be like.... okay? Picky eating, how can it be a plot for a book for young readers? Let me say, this book really was cute and has a message about accepting yourself and also just taking other people's opinions/preferences into consideration. A lot of kids are picky eaters, some even have sensory issues or health sensitivities that impact eating choices. So, I think that this book was not only warm & humorous, but it was also unique & insightful at the same time. Overall, pretty good.

This was so funny and sweet. I loved the book and all the characters. Everyone had such unique personalities and I could easily tell one character from another. This is a great book!

I think "The League of Picky Eaters" by Stephanie V. W. Lucianovic could be described as a middle grade friends book. Main character Minerva recognizes that her long-time best friends are just plain toxic. (The main one has a mother who is pretty appalling, too, as mean girl moms often are in books and movies. Mean girls learn their mean ways at home.) Sadly, this is at the very point when Minerva is placed in a remedial class, where she eventually realizes she's found a group that embraces and understands her.

The remedial class Minerva is placed in is for picky eaters, children who don't meet the standards for eating in the slightly alternative world they live in. Like "Rival," a YA mean girl book, "The League of Picky Eaters" is about something more than just school relationships. "Rival" was about singing, and "The League of Picky Eaters" is about...picky eating.

Picky eating is a real thing, and it is what brought me to this book after reading Lucianovic's adult book on the subject. We have three picky eaters in our family, one of whom has taken whatever this is--condition/eating disorder/food aversion--into adulthood. We've been dealing with it for many years. Picky eating isn't a dire, life-threatening issue. But it does cast a shadow over lives. We are an extremely food-centered culture. Meals and snacks are eaten at school, incredible numbers of social events are created around food or food is featured before or after them. Work meetings involve lunches, coffee and doughnuts (though all our picky eaters will eat those, or at least some types), dinners, and receptions. A simple book discussion group can end up meeting in restaurants. Dating is around meals. Oh, wait...traveling...means eating in restaurants. Any health situation that involves eating--gluten-related health conditions, diabetes, lactose intolerance, and, yes, picky eating--causes life complications for people affected and their families.

At last Sunday's book launch for "The League of Picky Eaters," which I attended in Los Altos, California from my office in southern New England through the magic of Zoom, Lucianovic, a recovered/recovering picky eater, said she was twenty-seven-years old before she started making progress on her own picky eating. She went on to go to culinary school and to eat, what sounds to me, like a remarkable number of things. She is every mom of a picky eater's fantasy. She wrote this book, she said, because in the area where she was living she was seeing competitive parenting around eating. And that led her to a book set in a school named for St. Julia Child where students are graded and tracked for their eating.

One of the big attractions of this book for me is that our main character doesn't experience some kind of eating revelation. Characters changing is a simplistic, quick-and-dirty writing rule/tip thrown around in many how-to articles and intro-writing workshops. Minerva's life does change in a realistic and positive way. But it's not around her eating, which is also realistic. I haven't seen or heard of a lot of that happening with picky eaters.

"The League of Picky Eaters" is entertaining and interesting, because it's about something we don't see a lot in children's books. (I don't know if I've seen it in any fiction.) My concern for the book is that adult gatekeepers won't be familiar with picky eating and not realize what Lucianovic has done here.

Stephanie Lucianovic ran her launch party from her kitchen where she made a grilled cheese. Grilled cheese figures prominently in "The League of Picky Eaters," because it is an acceptable, even loved, food for many picky eaters. Yes, yes, we know grilled cheese well here. In fact, someone mentioned it just yesterday.

Minerva lives in a town where everything revolves around eating. Minerva is even taught about eating in school and must pass an eating test. After learning her eating fate, Minerva needs to juggle eating and friendship in this adorable middle grade book.

A fun book. From start to finish, I really enjoyed reading this one. Great for all the picky eaters out there!

Food is everything in the town of Muffuletta. At Minerva's school, students have to pass an eating test as they enter sixth grade to determine which eating course they'll follow. Minerva is hoping to be in Gifted and Gourmet with her friends, but she ends up failing into the Remedial Eating to Change Habits (RETCH). Minerva finds friendship among her classmates, and even joins the secret League of Picky Eaters. She and her friends stumble upon some footage of St. Julia Child, the school's patron saint, that may help them turn the tables.

I loved the humor and relatability in this book and know that my fourth and fifth graders will too!

This is a Middle Grade book. I have three picky eaters. This book brings picky eaters to a new level. This book took me a while to get into, and it was a little weird. I love how this book shows what makes true friends, and that sometimes school goes a little overboard. I really love the ending of this book. This book was cute and funny. I love all the characters in this book, and I love that the underdogs comes together. This was a fun read. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Clarion Books) or author (Stephanie V.W. Lucianovic) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

I received an electronic ARC from Clarion Books through NetGalley.
An intriguing way to capture the cliques culture of the middle school years. In Muffeletta, students are placed based on how willing they are to try a wide variety of foods. Each class grouping has its own acronym and they are hilarious in connection to the overall theme. The more picky an eater is, the lower they are placed at the St. Julia Child School. Minerva is a rather picky eater and is placed in the lowest category (RETCH) for her seventh grade year. She's devastated at first as her two friends are in the top group, but, as so often happens, she learns they are not necessarily her friends after all. She makes new friends in her classes and comes to accept her unique abilities and strengths. The group she connects with learn about each other and find ways to support and build each other up. Readers see them grow and develop their own passions beyond food.
Lucianovic has a light touch with plenty of humor with serious undertones. Middle grade readers will appreciate the food and eating humor and will recognize themselves in characters though their group divisions may not be so clearly outlined with picky eating.

I really liked this book and am going to be ordering it for my library. As a picky eater myself I related to the characters.

Such a comical book! First time to read anything by this author but will definitely be looking for more by her! Can't recommend this book enough!!

This was a fun book. The concept of a society where gourmet eating is the most valued skill provided many great plays on words (like Sacred Artichoke Heart School) and set up some great challenges/obstacles. I loved the family relationships and friendships in the book and the way the main character grew in confidence and self-esteem. Picky eaters everywhere will be able to relate and enjoy the read.

A fun read where students are given Eating placement tests to determine what class they will be in. Minerva struggles with eating and doesn’t want to try new things. In the beginning of 6th grade she is placed in the Remedial Eating class, RETCH. Her friends are not in her class. As time goes on, she makes friends in her new class and realizes her old friends were not nice to her. Minerva discovers a secret shield on a note one day in her book bag,and it changes everything for her. She finds she can be a picky eater and still be good at things like standing up for herself and her friends.

I read this in one night and immediately re-arranged our Bookish Society Schedule so that we could fit in into this Fall. The author had me at RETCH Class. I too could have used a remedial eating course! I'm still a no sauce girl who loves chicken strips as an adult, so maybe I would still be the target audience here. :)

There were many things I enjoyed about the book, but there was a great deal I did not care for. Even books I don't enjoy I can usually think of a reader in my classroom that may enjoy it. It was difficult to get on board with the world of this book. The school being so strict about food and punishing kids for not trying ridiculously acquired tastes like foie gras or liver. I find it hard to believe that any middle schoolers would be in anything but retch. There would be 1000s of them.
I liked Minerva's transformation to standing up for herself, but I think kids would see the clam thing from miles away. It pulls you out of the text each time things don't make sense.

I myself am a picky eater and had trouble getting past the first few pages of the book "The League of Picky Eaters" by Stephanie V W Lucianovic. These pages are incredibly descriptive about messy food items. The author brings a vivid picture through her words. I do feel that children in that gross-out phase of development may really like this book; but myself, no longer a kid, I couldn't read enough of it to tell you what's on the pages. I will recommend it to those kiddos who want something unusual to dive into. There are a lot of books on the shelves that I'd never read myself. The world is full of unique individual viewpoints. It's part of what makes us interesting as a community.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Picky Eaters of the world (and parents of picky eaters) - there is a book on its way to a bookstore or library near you that speaks to your heart. School can feel like a pressure cooker sometimes with the drive to be in the highest reading group or the advanced math class. Often, these classes become value judgements about the kids in them, leaving kids who aren't ready for them feeling like they aren't good enough. This is a story where the kids push back. As a parent of a picky eater and a kid with anxiety, I saw a lot of story threads that connected to fears and challenges my own child has faced. I think kids who struggle with these things will love finding themselves in this book. I think it would make a great family read aloud!

I thought this was a very original concept and that it will appeal to the middle grade reader who prefers humorous stories.