Review: Sugar and Spice: The Cupcake Club by Sheryl Berk, Carrie Berk

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

Sugar and spice and everything nice-that's what cupcake club girls are made of!
The girls of Peace, Love, and Cupcakes have a new club advisor: Blakely Elementary's zany new art teacher Mr. Quinn Dubois. He's all about painting outside the lines and making cupcakes that push the envelope.
Almost immediatley, Mr. Dubois and Kylie-the club's founder-butt heads ("He's a GUY...what does he know?!"). But with orders pouring in like cake batter there's no time to argue. Principal Fontanta needs 2,000 mini cupcakes for the school's Annual Auction Benefit and Mr. Ludwig has a special cupacke request for his store's 5th anniversary celebration! Have PLC bitten off more than they can chew?

MY TAKE:
I love cupcakes and books about friendship so I figured this sounded like something I would like.

In Sugar and Spice: The Cupcake Club, the girls are in the running to bake cupcakes for the Miss New England Shooting Starz Pageant. However, Lexi has a little added stress in her life as she earns the ire of Meredith, which in turn leads to a surprising decision on her part.

It's a good thing that after reading the summary before requesting the book, I don't reread the summary prior to reading the ARC. Otherwise, I would have been confused. As you can see from the short recap I wrote, the PLC's main baking job in the book was for a pageant and it's Lexi who takes center stage in the book.

The story had a Babysitters-Club-meets-Miss-Congeniality-meets-Toddlers-and-Tiaras. I actually kinda liked it, even if it was meant for a younger audience. I'm way past the shy stage that Lexi is in, but I think lots of young girls will be able to relate to Lexi's story.

The things I enjoyed here the most are the cupcake recipes and the interview with Magnolia Bakery's CEO. The cupcake recipes included in the book are for: green tea cupcakes, pink velvet cupcakes and pumpkin pie recipes. The interview with the CEO was pretty cool and inspiring, not just for kids but for adults who want to build their own business empire as well.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Jabberwocky for the e-copy.

THE GOOD:

1. Lots of kids will be able to relate to Lexi.
2. The flavors of the cupcakes that can be made from recipes provided look unique and yummy.
3. The interview with the Magnolia Bakery CEO is inspiring.

THE BAD:

1. Some may feel like there's not enough action here. 

READ IT IF:

1. Your child likes books like The Babysitters Club.
2. Your child likes to bake.
3. Your child dreams of starting his or her own baking business someday. 

RATING:


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