Review by Frank Plowright

A second book from Angela Dominguez returns the likeable Gabby Torres in another story mixing comic content alongside text and illustration as Gabby presents her unfiltered thoughts about home life and school life. Gabby may be smart, but her enthusiasm sometimes gets the better of her, and here we learn she also has a competitive nature.

When her two best friends win a medal and a competition respectively, Gabby is determined to be a winner also, but where should she compete, and how? As seen in Gabby Torres Gets a Billion Followers, Gabby enjoys baking, and it just so happens the local supermarket is organising a baking competition.

Whereas the previous book, and indeed the following Gabby Torres Knows What You Did, tend to dive all over the place, this is a more focussed Gabby following her from first seeing her friends winning through all the preparations and tryouts to the actual competition. There are a few distractions, such as her father’s new birdwatching hobby, and the Sea Musketeers raising funds to help the river otters, but Gabby dreams big and figures she’ll have enough winnings to help with that.

There’s so much personality to Dominguez’s art, and of course it wouldn’t be a very funny story if everything went right for Gabby. One kitchen disaster follows another, all illustrated featuring a grumpy looking mother arriving at the messiest moment. There is a valuable point made for young readers that despite what they may hear elsewhere, winning isn’t everything.

The plot plays out enjoyably and unpredictably, and don’t worry too much about the poor river otters.