The Cupcake Club Series, Book 1

March 5, 2012
With this middling story about four fourth-grade outsiders who start a baking club, Sheryl Berk (coauthor of Soul Surfer) and her nine-year-old daughter launch the Peace, Love and Cupcakes series, whose premise is similar to that of Coco Simon’s Cupcake Diaries series. The girls’ drama teacher proposes the club after witnessing a prank that mean girl Meredith plays on Kylie, her ­frequent victim. Hoping that baking goodies will make people like her, Kylie recruits three classmates to join: overweight, good-natured Jenna; shy and artistic Lexi; and dyslexic tomboy Sadie. After the group bakes a batch to sell at a fund-raiser, their cupcake-making spirals into a thriving business. Mere­dith’s nastiness persists until Kylie retaliates with a potentially harmful stunt, for which she pays surprisingly little consequence. Hampered by clichéd portrayals of the students, the novel offers routine messages about being a good friend, working together, and dealing with bullying. Detailed descriptions of the girls’ baking should appeal to aspiring pastry chefs; three recipes are included at the end of the novel. Ages 9–up. Agent: Katherine Latshaw, the Literary Group.

May 15, 2012
Grades 3-5 Since Kylie moved from Florida to Connecticut, fourth grade can be scarier than her favorite monster movies. Tired of being bullied by Meredith and hoping to fit in better, Kylie accepts her drama teacher's offer to start an after-school baking club. With three other outcast recruits who are dyslexic, shy, or overweight and a few initial baking disasters later, the club becomes a sensation for its imaginative and delicious cupcakesand just like that, the club has its own side business. Along the way, the girls learn the similarities between baking and friendshippatience, determination, and teamworkand Meredith even receives her just desserts. Written by a mother-daughter duo (the latter of which is a young cupcake blogger), this opener in the Peace, Love, and Cupcakes series also includes baking tips and recipes. Although the characters and situations (e.g., the girls working past midnight on a school night to complete a rush order) are sometimes full of fluff, readers looking for a light story are in for, much like cupcakes themselves, a small burst of fun.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)