Cupcake Queen by Heather Hepler

Format: Paperback
Pages: 242
Publisher: Speak

Why I Read This: I had added it to my to-reads list and didn't intend to read it soon because it was shorter than I was use to, but when I got to Barnes and Nobles and saw the cupcakes, there was nooooo way I could resist!

Plot: Penny Lane has just moved back to her mother's hometown in Hog's Hollow. Penny is just ready to go back home to the city and to her city friends and back to her dad. She keeps up the hope of returning although the chances are slim. Her mom has started an all cupcake bakery, entitled Cupcake Queen. It's not like Penny is any help, she can't even put rose on correctly without breaking them and she feels that she never does anything right. On one her first expeditions out of the bakery, Penny meets her enemy and makes her first impression. School doesn't really go well until she meets new friends and learns to except the things that come her way and the cute boy that runs on the beach starts paying attention to her. In this guide to managing and accepting, Penny leads us on her journey to finding herself in a new place.

Characters: I found Penny a bit shallow in the beginning because all she wanted to do was get back to her City friends and she acted oblivious to her mother's and father's separation. Also a difference in the book, instead of Penny standing up to the mean girl, her best friend did it. There was hardly any confrontation between Penny and Charity at all. I liked her friend, Tally and thought that she was a wonderful supporting character and unique as can be. I was surprised and happy when she decided to compete against Charity in the pageant, but I was bit scared when she started changing her appearance. I thought that Penny was going to lose her only friend. Marcus was cute and sweet and shy, in just the right way. I think that him and Penny connected well, but I felt that there was a lot left to talk about on the death of his mother. I also couldn't figure out why it was so hard to tell Penny that he was being tutored by Charity instead of hiding it. But that's teenage love for you.