Confectionately Yours: Save the Cupcake!

In the book Save the Cupcake! by Lisa Papademetriou, which was copyrighted in May 2012 and is general fiction, a girl named Hayley deals with bullying and a girl who is gluten-free. She also has to live with the fact that her parents just got divorced, her mom lost her job, and they just moved in with her mom's mom above her tea shop. At first she is very sad about the situation, but throughout the story different events happen which makes her stop thinking about the situation, including when her best friend, Artie suddenly starts hanging out with a boy who Hayley likes, and when people started coming to the tea shop for Hayley's cupcakes. This book shows you that everyone should try to make the best out of a bad situation.

Lisa tells the story from Hayley's point of view which makes the reader be able to see what she is thinking in her head. The story is about how Hayley got through a rough part in her life by baking cupcakes, finding new friends, and realizing what is really important. This book is recommended for 3rd-7th graders and I didn't realize how easy it was to read until I started the book, but I don't like leaving a book without finishing it, so I read the whole thing. The story is written in realistic fiction and it definitely relates to that because anything that happened in the book could happen in real life. The book was also really well written because there were always new conflicts and that helped me stay interested in the book. Another thing that the author does well, is that she wrote the book in the right tone for the age. It has everything a girl of that age goes through.

The book really related to me because I like to bake because it takes me to a happy place and that is the same thing with Hayley. I think that is one reason I really related to this book. It changed the way I look at people who may seem different, because at first Meghan Markerson seemed different to Hayley, but once Hayley's friends started being rude she started to hangout with Meghan, and realized how nice she actually was. When I was reading this, I started to think about Wonder by: R.J. because  in both books the main character has to go through a challenging time in their lives.

This book overall is written very well and gives you a great representation of everything going on in Hayley's life. I would recommend it to children in 5th or 6th grade the book, but not 8th grade because it was a very easy read.

Julia S.
10.27.13
Rating: **** 4/5