August 30, 2011 from First Second
Cupcake owns a bakery and when his friend Eggplant invites him to go visit Turkey to meet a chef who is the creme de la creme, Turkish Delight (pun intended) to help him find the fun in baking again. Cupcake is inventive and inspired by his surroundings and the people to come up with new and exciting desserts to help him raise the money for the trip. Through bright colorful pages we see cupcake work his little cherry off only to have plans change. Cupcake realizes that he didn't really need to go to Turkey to be a great baker.
I loved the whimsy illustrations and the desserts only made me hungry. The story was cute and I love the relationship between cupcake and eggplant. They both help each other and cupcake is as selfless as he is sweet. Grade 3+
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You can visit Varon at the her website
May 8th, 2012 from HarperCollins
Told in a diary style, Tad is a 7th-grader who is looking to make a few changes in his life and he is bound and determined to: survive the school year, grow a mustache, get girls to notice him, and do a flip on his skateboard. From January 1st all the way through December 31st Tad tries his hardest, but things don't always pan out for him. He ends up starring in an elementary school play, breaking his best friends already broken camera, and hacking off his parents a lot.
Tad is a pretty insightful kid and there were several stories that were very funny! This would be an excellent read aloud book for a family. Especially those with some sibling rivalry! We get to know Tad pretty well and see the boy means well most of the time. His younger sister is even more clever and the banter between the two were highlights. I wish this story had a little more sustenance - really no set story arc - but kids will enjoy his adventures and wild times. Grade 4+
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You can find Carvell at the Harper website
