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Sheryl Berk and Carrie Berk snapped this selfie at BookCon in May where they launched Fashion Academy!

By Bianca Schulze, The Children’s Book Review
Published: May 4, 2012

Enter to win a copy of The Cupcake Club: Peace, Love, and Cupcakes by sweet duo Sheryl and Carrie Berk.

Introducing the delicious new children’s book series, The Cupcake Club—a treat for readers and cupcake connoisseurs, alike.

Giveaway begins May 4, 2012, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends June 1, 2012, at 11:59 P.M. PST.

Reading level: Ages 9-12

Paperback: 208 pages

Overview: Meet Kylie Carson.

She’s a fourth grader with a big problem. How will she make friends at her new school? Should she tell her classmates she loves monster movies? Forget it. Play the part of a turnip in the school play? Disaster! Then Kylie comes up with a delicious idea: What if she starts a cupcake club?

Soon Kylie’s club is spinning out tasty treats with the help of her fellow bakers and new friends. But when Meredith tries to sabotage the girls’ big cupcake party, will it be the end of the Cupcake Club?

About the authors: Sheryl Berk, New York Times bestselling author of Soul Surfer, and her nine-year-old daughter, Carrie, a cupcake connoisseur who has reviewed confections from the world in her Carrie’s Cupcakes Critiques newsletter, have cooked up a delightful new series sure to be a treat.

How to enter:

• Fill out the required fields below

• Maximum entries: Three (3)

Giveaway Rules:

• Shipping Guidelines: This book giveaway is open to all participants with a US or Canadian mailing addresses.
• Giveaway begins May 4, 2012, at 12:01 A.M. PST and ends June 1, 2012, at 11:59 P.M. PST, when all entries must be received. No purchase necessary. See official rules for details. View our privacy policy.

Prizing courtesy of Sourcebooks, Inc.

©2012 The Childrens Book Review. All Rights Reserved.

The Children’s Book Review
Published: May 4, 2012

Introducing the Delicious Duo! The Mother-Daughter writing team behind the sweet new children’s book series, The Cupcake Club.

For years, Sheryl Berk has been a top ghostwriter/book collaborator in Hollywood. “I’ve worked with everyone from Britney Spears and Carmen Electra to Whitney Port and Tia Mowry,” she explains. She also co-authored the New York Times bestseller Soul Surfer with Bethanny Hamilton (also a hit movie). But even with all those A-listers, her 9 year old daughter Carrie remains her favorite writing partner. Here’s how the two cooked up the idea for The Cupcake Club book series:

Carrie: I was having a sleepover with my BFF Jaimie. We were bored so I took out some paper and started writing a story. It was about four girls who started their own cupcake club. I showed it to my mom.

Sheryl: She was learning about realistic fiction in Second Grade, and she was a huge fan of Judy Moody books. But she was always looking for a book series she could relate to more.

Carrie: I wanted to read about cupcakes!

Sheryl: So she wrote up a summary of her idea, and I sent it to my literary agent.

Carrie: We got a book deal really fast and I was excited. I was going to be an author.

Sheryl: It’s great to work with her on the series. She draws inspiration for the characters and their adventures from her school, her friends, her teachers. There’s a realness to The Cupcake Club, and that comes directly from the fact that it’s written by a kid. The book deals with issues that kids deal with, like bullying, crushes, friend drama.

Carrie: My mom and I talk about how the book will go: what the characters will do, what problems they’ll have, how they’ll solve them. Then she writes the first draft and I edit it.

Sheryl: Sometimes she can be a little tough! I get comments in the margins like, ‘A kid would never talk like that!’ or ‘Needs more explanation!’ She has some very strong opinions.

Carrie: I want it to sound like a kid said it. And I read a lot, so I know what’s a good book for my age.

Sheryl: And we also incorporate a lot of crazy cupcakes in the story. Stuff like a cannoli cream cupcake, a spaghetti and meatball cupcake, or maple red velvet.

Carrie: I watch Cupcake Wars and take notes. Then I give my mom some ingredient suggestions. I just saw a cupcake with pickles and peanut butter and I want to do something like it for Book 3!

Sheryl: We work closely with a recipe developer, Jessi Walter from Taste Buds. Carrie does a tasting and they talk over what cupcakes we want to create from each book.

Carrie: Like The Eco-licious Cupcake from Peace, Love and Cupcakes. I’m an EcoKid in my school, and I really wanted to give readers a recipe that was all organic and used recycled paper cupcake wrappers.

Sheryl: I’ve learned a lot about cupcakes from Carrie, and I think she’s learned a lot about the writing process and publishing business from me.

Carrie: I never knew how many times you have to revise a manuscript! My favorite part i

Nine-year-old author and cupcake blogger Carrie Berk just co-wrote Peace, Love and Cupcakes with her mom, Life & Style Weekly editor-in-chief Sheryl Berk.

To celebrate the release of the novel (published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky imprint), Berk (pictured) hosted a book party at Dylan’s Candy Bar in New York City. Author and cupcake blogger Rachel Kramer Bussel covered the event at Cupcakes Take the Cake.

Check it out: “[The book] is about a group of little girls who form a cupcake club at their school, start a cupcake business, fight bullies and have fun baking, decorating and learning about each other … [the candy store] was set up with a chocolate fountain where you could get Peeps, marshmallows, Rice Krispie treats, pretzels, strawberries or bananas dipped in it, a cupcaketini cocktail, which had Frangelico, Bailey’s and Kahlua (adults only, obviously) and adorable custom mini cupcakes courtesy of Georgetown Cupcake, which managed to replicate the book cover exactly, with glitter!”

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