The cupcake club Peace, love, and cupcakes

Sheryl Berk

Book - 2012

When Kylie starts fourth grade at a new school, she starts a cupcake club in an effort to meet friends.

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Subjects
Published
Naperville, Ill. : Sourcebooks Jabberwocky c2012.
Language
English
Main Author
Sheryl Berk (-)
Other Authors
Carrie Berk (-)
Physical Description
195 p. ; 20 cm
ISBN
9781402264498
Contents unavailable.
Review by Booklist Review

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 cupcakes and just like that, the club has its own side business. Along the way, the girls learn the similarities between baking and friendship patience, determination, and teamwork and 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.--Leeper, Angela Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

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. Mere-dith's nastiness persists until Kylie retaliates with a potentially harmful stunt, for which she pays surprisingly little consequence. Hampered by cliched 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. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Chapter 1: A Monstrous Day

Why does it have to be Monday?

Kylie Carson pulled the blanket over her head and pretended not to hear her snooze alarm beeping for the third time. And Monday, November 6, no less! Her fourth-grade teacher, Ms. Shottlan, had asked everyone to pick a topic they were an expert on and share ten fabulous facts about it.

"The idea," her teacher said, "is to wow us!"

The big red circle on the calendar had stared at Kylie for two weeks. By this time, most of the kids had already presented their reports. Emily Dutter talked about horseback riding. Jeremy Saperstone explained about football, and Meredith Mitchell? She went on and on about gymnastics-and held up the three gold medals she won at last year's state championship meet.

But what had she chosen to talk about? Monster movies! It was truly the only thing Kylie was an expert on. Dracula vs. Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Phantom of the Opera. She saw them all a million times! But now that the day was here and the clock said 7:57, she was having second thoughts.

She plopped down in her seat at the kitchen table, still in her peace-sign pj's and fuzzy slippers.

"Is it Pajama Day at school?" her mom teased. "Or are we just starting a new fashion trend?

Kylie groaned. "Expert presentation today."

"Ah-hah!" said her mom. "And you are an expert at being late to school?"

"I don't want to go," said Kylie. "It's going to be a colossal disaster!"

"Colossal disaster, huh? That's a pretty dramatic way to describe a five-minute report in front of your class. But then again, monster movies are very dramatic-so I suppose it's appropriate." Her mom chuckled.

Kylie rolled her eyes. "What if they laugh at me?" she asked. "Or worse...throw things."

"They won't laugh," her mother assured her, tossing another pancake onto Kylie's plate, even though she had barely touched the first one.

"No, trust me, they will. Gavin Gilligan flicked a grape at Jeremy Saperstone yesterday in the cafeteria-and that was just because Jeremy looked at him funny. One weird look and Jeremy got a grape in his eye! No one in my class likes monster movies. They'll think I'm stupid!"

Her mom handed her the maple syrup. "I think it's a little late to change your mind, don't you? School starts in twenty minutes."

That was it-she was doomed. Doomed like the Wolfman when the sheriff came after him with a gun loaded with silver bullets. The furry fiend knew he was in for an unhappily-ever-after, and Kylie knew the same. She could feel it in her bones. If she could just miss school this one day!

"You know, my throat's a little sore," she said with a cough.

Her mom felt Kylie's head. "Nice try," her mom said. "Cool as a cucumber. Get dressed."

Kylie came out of her room five minutes later, dragging her feet-this time in gray high-top sneakers. She'd chosen her black jeans and a black, long-sleeve tee, because the dark color matched her dark mood.

"Much better," her mom said. Then she handed Kylie her backpack, her lunch box, and the huge poster board she'd made: a collage of the world's greatest monsters at their bloodiest, creepiest, scariest best.

"You'll be great, honey," her mom said, planting a kiss on Kylie's cheek. "It's normal to feel butterflies when you speak in front of a group of people. I always do."

It wasn't so much the group as it was one particular person Kylie was worried about. And it wasn't butterflies she felt in her stomach, it was more like vampire bats. But telling her mom that wouldn't help. Instead she trudged outside and just made the school bus before it pulled away from her corner.

Excerpted from The Cupcake Club: Truth, Love and Cupcakes by Sheryl Berk, Carrie Berk All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.