Because when you need help in the kitchen, it helps to have a good bookcook at hand:

The percentage of third through eighth graders in the city’s public schools who scored proficiently on state reading tests catapulted an incredible 11.2% upward since last year — from 57.6 percent to 68.8 percent.

Surprisingly, the largest gains were made in the city’s long-troubled middle schools — led by a nearly 20 percent jump since last year in the number of sixth graders meeting state benchmarks, from 52.7 percent to 72.6 percent.