The Cupcake Club: Sugar and Spice

The Cupcake Club: Sugar and Spice

By: Sheryl & Carrie Berk

116 Pages

Ages: 9-12

Summary:

The gang of the Cupcake Club is back!! In this latest adventure, bullies are taught a lesson in humility, and someone enters a beauty pagent!

Who knew that painting a huge canvas for art class would cause so much trouble?! Certainly not Lexie. However, when her overly large work of art collides with school snob, Meredith, Lexie becomes the target of Meredith's scorn. Instead of just letting it go, Meredith decides revenge should come with going after Lexie's boyfriend. As if constantly putting her down wasn't enough. Well, the girls of Peace, Love, and Cupcakes have decided they are going to teach the school hotshot a lesson, or two.

When the girls learn that Meredith has entered the Miss New England Shooting Starzpagent, they decide someone needs to run against her- and win. Lexie gets voted when they learn she can sing. So, a reluctant Lexie enters. Competition day isn't a smooth one. Some contestants soar, while others sink. And some people see stars.

Lexie isn't the only one facing down her insecurities with rivals. The girls of Peace, Love, and Cupcakes also go head-to-head with their rival competition when both vie for the job of baking for the pageant. Will the girls claim victory this time? Who's impressive cupcake concoction will be the winner?

Girls will especially love this series. The Cupcake Club is a fun, creative, spunky series that I enjoy reading! The characters are fun, the chapters aren't long, The stories are fun and relateable for all ages. The books in The Cupcake Club are great summer reads! Readers will have fun reading the books and getting to know all the girls. I look forward to each book!

Hocus Pocus Hotel: The Thirteenth Mystery

Hocus Pocus Hotel: The Thirteenth Mystery

By: Michael Dahl

222 Pages

Ages 9+

Summary:

Ty and Charlie must find their beloved friend, Brack. He's gone missing and no one knows where he is. They do know, however, that he never left the hotel. Where could the famous former magician be in a hotel built by magicians? And what do priceless statues of Greek gods and goddesses have to do with it?

Welcome to the third book in the wonderfully enchanted Hocus Pocus Hotel series. In The Thirteenth Mystery, Ty and Charlie need to find their missing friend, Brack. If he isn't found within 24 hours, he risks losing the hotel he loves dearly to rival magician, Theopolis. No one knows where Brack is. The only thing they do know is that mo security camera footage shows him leaving the hotel. Where could he be? Does the the clump of read hair found on Brack's apartment floor have anything to do it with his disappearance? Also, 50 years ago, priceless statues of gods and goddesses were delivered to the hotel. What was once long forgotten has now been remembered, but by who? What lengths are they willing to go to in order to get them back? 

I have loved this series from the very beginning! The books are fun, lighthearted, and absolutely enchanting. Ty and Charlie are a great team and the setting of a hotel built for, and by magicians, mean endless possibilities. The Thirteenth Mystery was every bit as good as other 2 books in this series. Whereas the previous books were broken up into 2 stories each, this time one plot unfolds. However, within that one plot, several other stories emerge. In this case, priceless Greek statues of gods and goddesses are found within the hotel. They had been delivered 50 years ago, but forgotten. Now one is stolen. Who would want to steal them, why, and how were they able to take one of the heavy stone statues? 

Icing On The Cake

The Cupcake Club: Icing on the Cake

By: Sheryl & Carrie Berk

Pages: 115

Ages: 9-12

Summary:

Jenna has a full plate: a 5th grader, cupcake business & club, plenty of friends. Suddenly, her life is about to change. Jenna isn't happy about all the new changes, either. See what takes her, and the rest of the club, to Las Vegas, what connection they have to an Elvis impersonator, and why the club would be baking pupcakes.

Jenna's life may not be perfect, but she's happy the way it is. So when her Mom announces she's now engaged to her boyfriend, Leo, Jenna is less than thrilled. The impending nuptials may have many supporters, but Jenna isn't one of them. Still, Jenna goes along with it when her Mom asks Peace, Love, and Cupcakes to bake them a tower of cupcakes for the wedding- in a month and across the country.

The girls find themselves baking the night away in the kitchen of the fancy Venice Hotel- but not just for Jenna's Mom. Upon their arrival, they meet an Elvis Impersonator with quite a problem. His 100th show is that night and he can't find anyone who can bake a cake big enough for his 250 person audience. Nor can he find someone who can make it a peanut butter and banana cake. Thankfully the girls come to his rescue.

As if all that isn't enough, Jenna falls in love. Her school Community Friends project takes her to Rescue Rover, a dog shelter. Promptly, Jenna meets a puppy she names Dulce. 

The Mother-Daughter writing team of this series brings you another fun adventure to read. I loved seeing what fun things the girls would be doing in this book. It will find a home on my bookshelf. 

The Cupcake Club: Winner Bakes All

The Cupcake Club: Winner Bakes All

By: Sheryl Berk & Carrie Berk

118 Pages

Ages: 9-12

The third book in The Cupcake Club series has Saddie Harris, Kylie Carson, Jenna Medina, & Lexi Poole facing a challenge like no other: can they win a baking contest?

With business drying up a little, the girls are looking for a way to bring in money. Enter the contest Battle of the Bakers. With the grand prize being $5,000, the Cupcake Club is aiming to win. What they didn't count on was going against seasoned professionals. Nor would they expect the surprise guest judge to be a recent disgruntled client. Can they pull it off and win?

While the club battles professionals  Saddie is fearing her parents are heading for a divorce. Money has been tight, and the stress has her parents fighting a lot more. Is Saddie worried about nothing, or is she fated to be the newest addition to the divorced family statistics at her school?

This book is the 3rd in the series, and the first one I ever read. Having said that, it doesn't affect the story line at all. The authors give you all the information you need, so you don't go through the book feeling like you're missing key details. Had it not been for a couple of instances in the book, you wouldn't know it's the middle of a series. 

I found the book to be cute and charming. I enjoyed meeting each of the girls. Mrs. Lila Vanderwall was a character written to be dis likable  and she is. I was mad when she refused to pay the girls for baking a ton of cupcakes at the last minute for her. Yes, they made a mistake with the decoration, but they fixed it. 

This is a series I would love to read more of. I'll definitely be seeing if my library has the first two books in the series. Very cute and enjoyable.