Author: Heather Hepler
Pages: 242
Published: Dutton, 2009
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Cover score: A
Overall Grade: B+
Summary: When 14 year old Penny Lane (yes, like the Beatles song) learns that she and her recently-separated mother are moving from the bright lights of New York City to quiet, rustic Hog's Hollow to open a quaint bakeshop, she is anything but thrilled. As if starting high school as the new girl isn't bad enough, the queen bee of Hog's Hollow High has it out for Penny, and it looks like divorce is on the horizon for Penny's parents. But then Tally meets funny, quirky, Tally and shy, cute Marcus who runs on the beach, and things start looking up...until Penny's parents drop a huge decision on her...
My thoughts: I was greatly looking forward to reading The Cupcake Queen. How could you go wrong with cupcakes? There were a lot of aspects that I liked in the story: the friendship, Penny's strong, relatable point of view; Tally's humor and quirkiness, the realistic aspect of divorce, the fast paced plot, and the smooth, nearly-poetic writing style.
However, I found that several parts of the book were choppy. I felt that many details were missing, and Penny's character was underdeveloped. Plus, there was no real purpose to the book. The Charity problem wasn't resolved, and the divorce aspect felt open-ended. Sure, the story was about Penny's progress and fitting in, but she sometimes came off as whiny and repetitive.
I would've liked to have seen more pageant aspects, which I think would've given the plot more structure and depth. Still, a cute, fast confection that is heart-wearming and sweet as a cupcake.
Must-Read!! Check it out Don't Bother
13 comments:
Thanks for the honest review! I'm also drawn to this mostly because of the title and the cover - I don't think I'll be able to resist it for much longer!
Great review.
I won this in a contest and it seems cute. I'm interested in reading it now that I've read your thoughts!
Im going to go eat now!
it was a great review but I had to read this book for a literary analysis paper. it was good but you realy couldnt get any literary elements out of it. it is a good book but i would say it is mainly for younger kids for ages 8 to 10 because i am 15 and if you want to get a reall good grade this book it really easy. thats why i a it is for 8 to 10 year olds because were I go to school at we can already read at a 12th grade level in the 9th grade and this book was way to easy for me. I would not read this book again if i had to.
this is a great review.. book< too easy, and if u read closely in the book, there were a lot of grammer issues. other than that, this book was OK.
what's the main character? i belive penny and marcus. am i correct?
Correct! :)
Who are the 3 main characters
Are there any other genres for this book? The usual ones like mystery, romance and others? Also I believe that the 3 main characters are penny, tally and marcus. I don't think many of the problems were solved at the end but it's still really good.
i thought this was an ok book but i wouldnt read again because it was wayyyy to easy for a person like me??
I think you mean Penny meets Tally not Tally meets Tally
Does Penny end up living with her dad or her mom?
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