Katie and the Cupcake Cure

July 22, 2022

Gr 3 Up-As Katie begins middle school, she is faced with some unexpected major changes. Her best friend, Callie, is suddenly her former best friend, having just joined a group called the Popular Girls Club. Katie soon forms a new group of friends, who decide to call themselves the Cupcake Club, since they all enjoy sharing cupcakes at lunch. A major focus of this series are the dynamics among the Cupcake Club girls-Katie, Mia, Emma, and Alexis-but since different volumes are narrated by different girls, readers also see into other aspects of their lives. In these first two volumes, readers explore Katie's relationships with her mother and Callie as well as Mia's struggle to fit in at her new school and her schedule conflicts as she splits her time between her divorced parents. The series builds empathy as it follows the highs and lows of new and old friendships. As each character goes through friendship drama that plays tug-of-war with her loyalties, readers will become invested in wanting each girl to find the balance she needs. This new graphic novel series is a smooth adaptation from the original series of novels. The artwork is bright and colorful, capturing the energy and emotion of the story. VERDICT These new books will be welcomed by fans of the original "Cupcake Club" series as well as by any tweens looking for sweet, but realistic, stories about kids trying to form lasting friendships.-Andrea Lipinski

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 11, 2011
This debut installment of the Cupcakes Diaries covers familiar turf. On the first day of middle school, Katie's best friend Callie snubs her for the "Popular Girls Club." Hurt but resilient, Katie bonds with stylish Mia, who has just moved to town from Manhattan; shy Emma; and down-to-earth Alexis. When Katie's overprotective, "cupcake crazy" mother (who, yes, calls her "Cupcake") senses that her daughter has had a rough day she proposes a "cupcake cure" and the two bake a batch, which Katie shares with her new pals. Katie, an affable narrator, asserts that middle school "got a little bit easier" after she and her friends form the Cupcake Club and bake together on weekends. At a school fundraiser, Katie and crew sell cupcakes (competing with Callie and her cronies, who hawk disastrous makeovers), and win the prize. "It was like the sweet icing on top of a delicious cupcake," gushes Katie, whose reconciliation with Callie caps this breezy, predictable middle-grade story. Mia in the Mix pubs simultaneously. Ages 8â12.