The Biggest Poutine in the World is the English translation (by Annick Press’s Brigitte Waisberg) of Andrée Poulin’s 2013 novel, La plus grosse poutine du monde, which won the 2014 Prix TD de littérature canadienne pour l’enfance et la jeunesse and the OLA’s Forest of Reading Le Prix Tamarac in 2015. The book is a visually appealing mix of text messages, emails, black-and-white sketches, and short chapters of prose set in a large font. There’s even an album showcasing different types of poutine (who knew there were so many?). Young readers will undoubtedly appreciate the format, but it’s the story that will really grab them.

Thomas is a 12-year-old boy filled with much resentment, anger, and jealousy over his cold, distant father and absentee mother. And yet he can still see the potential for a hopeful resolution to his situation.

It has been seven long years since Thomas has seen his mother. She sends him a brief note and some cash for his birthday every year, but otherwise isn’t part of his life anymore. Though he’s damaged by her absence, he still has fond memories of them making poutine together: peeling whole bags of potatoes, buying cheese curds, making the gravy, and cooking the fries.

Using food to fill the void of loneliness and to quash the anguish of abandonment is not an unusual coping mechanism, but using 650 kilograms of poutine to smother the emptiness is definitely unique. Taking a cue from his favourite website, the Guinness World Records, Thomas concocts the idea of making a giant poutine and feeding hundreds of people so that he might earn a world record and become worthy of the attention of his parents.

So begins the Phenomenal Poutine Project, for which Thomas enlists the help of his best friend, Sam Bernier; Sam’s godfather and French fry truck owner, Fat Frank; and Irene Ladouceur, who runs the local cheese shop and insists Thomas include her daughter, Elie, in the project. It seems like Thomas’s plan is moving forward until the mayor refuses to rent the local arena to the aspiring world-record breakers for the event.

Thomas is not deterred, however, and comes up with a scheme to kidnap the mayor’s Senegal parrot and then recover the bird, all to sway her into relenting. Not surprisingly, things go awry.

Thomas’s friendships with Sam and Elie, his absent mother, his aloof father, an allergic reaction, a wayward parrot – all of it comes together in a crushing heap that threatens to smother him with emotions. Fortunately, Poulin rescues the story from melodrama with a satisfying fusion of comic relief and coming-of-age truisms, accompanied by a side of dysfunctional family realism.

An accomplished author of more than 30 French-language picture books and children’s novels, Poulin demonstrates an understanding of the complexities of a child’s mind when faced with familial conflict. With The Biggest Poutine in the World, she effortlessly acknowledges that strife with compassion and humour in what is ultimately an uplifting tale of friendship, determination, and emotional growth.