Katie never spent any of her summer vacation worrying about the start of middle school, so she is more surprised than anyone when her best friend, Callie, ditches her on the first day to join The Popular Girls Club (PGC). Katie is really upset, but she channels her sadness into baking cupcakes, a pastime she and her mom have shared over the years. Eventually, her cupcakes lead her to a group of new friends - Mia, Alexis, and Emma - who join with her to form a cupcake club and business.
Though this book is set in middle school, it’s actually written to appeal to a younger audience. Girls in grades 3 to 5 who enjoy the Baby-sitters Club, How I Survived Middle School and similar series are the most likely candidates to read this one, and their parents will be pleased to have them do it. Not only does the story portray involved moms who are strongly attuned to their daughters’ social lives, but the girls themselves have wholesome interests, positive attitudes, and strong work ethics. They’re not caught up in fashion, cliqueishness or (at least in this volume) boys. They maintain a sense of innocence and focus on the good they can do instead of how to exact revenge on their popular enemies.
The writing in this book is similar to that in other paperback series - mostly generic, with no real frills - but that isn’t necessarily a problem. Everybody needs a little fluff now and then, and younger tweens looking to ease into their summer reading will - excuse the pun - eat these up. Only two things might cause confusion. One is that the series is not written in diary format, even thought it’s called Cupcake Diaries. The other is that there is another series available now that is called The Cupcake Club, but which is not related to this series. It seems that no matter which one I’m searching for on Barnes and Noble’s website, I get the other one, so it’s a good idea to keep track of the authors if you’re looking for these in the bookstore or library.
Katie and the Cupcake Cure was originally published in 2011, followed by Mia in the Mix, Emma on Thin Icing, Alexis and the Perfect Recipe, and Katie, Batter Up. The most recent additions to the series are Mia’s Baker Dozen, published in February 2012, and Emma All Stirred Up, published in April 2012. New books will continue to be published through the end of this year, as follows: Alexis Cool as a Cupcake (June 26), Katie and the Cupcake War (August 21), Mia’s Boiling Point (October 16), and Emma, Smile and Say “Cupcake!” (December 4.)
Visit Simon Spotlight’s Cupcake Diaries page to learn more about the books and view the adorable trailer.
I purchased Katie and the Cupcake Cure from Barnes and Noble for my Nook.
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By: Katie,
on 1/24/2012
Blog: Secrets & Sharing Soda (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: genre: realistic fiction, source: barnes and noble website, published 2012, publisher: penguin, level: young adult, read 2012, author: john green, Add a tag
The Fault in Our Stars. by John Green. January 10, 2012. Dutton Juvenile. 313 pages. ISBN: 9780525478812
TFIOS, as the Nerdfighter community has affectionately nicknamed this book, is a love story between cancer survivors Hazel and Augustus. Hazel's cancer is being managed by a drug that has bought her some more time than doctors initially expected, while Augustus has lost his leg to osteosarcoma. The two meet in a support group, and are drawn together by their fascination with a novel by fictitious author Peter Van Houten, which has at its protagonist a young girl dying of cancer, and the abrupt ending of which invites many questions that Hazel and Gus both want answered. The book very realistically portrays the daily challenges and triumphs of kids living with cancer and manages to humanize a very difficult experience in a way that is very warm and relatable, but not cheesy or patronizing.
It's very hard for me to think critically about books that make me cry. I generally don't enjoy being sad, so sometimes that can be a strike against a book. But I'm also always impressed by the way an author can move me to tears, which sometimes makes me unduly biased in the book's favor. In this case, I don't feel as though I particularly enjoyed TFIOS. I was stuck for several days at the halfway point, afraid to read any further, and then I finally finished the book out of a sense of obligation, rather than out of a desire to know how it ends. I knew that, whatever the outcome, I'd wind up in tears, and found myself dreading that experience.
That said, though, I can make a few comments. One is that this book deviates quite a bit from John Green's other books, both in style and substance, and in the fact that his narrator is a girl for the first time. I still heard his distinct tone and voice throughout the text, but also occasionally got buried in what I found to be somewhat pretentious language. I kept thinking of how everyone used to criticize the characters on Dawson's Creek for speaking so eloquently all the time. I buy that intelligent teenagers have the vocabulary to understand these passages, but I don't think teens truly speak as they do in this book.
What I will say, though, is that this book never becomes maudlin, even at its saddest moments, and the writing never falls into that weepy Lurlene McDaniel style I despise. The characters are fully developed, both as cancer patients, and as people, and their lives, personalities, fears, and quirks jumped right off the page. Particularly lovely is the arc of Hazel's story, and the wonderful portrayal of her family, and her relationship to her parents. A lot happens beneath the surface of this book, and there is lots to analyze and critique, for readers who can put themselves through the emotion of a second reading.
All in all, this
1 Comments on Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, last added: 1/24/2012
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Great review, and I think your mention of the pretentious language is a good one. Although I tend to like unnaturally intelligent/witty characters (I love Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary by Pamela Dean), I think this could be a road block for some readers.