The Cupcake Queen

This book is about a city girl, Penny, who moves to a small town by the beach. It was absolutly funny and i loved it! Definetly a 5 star book to read! Yet, Penny's friend, Tally, her story was so sad. But, i enjoyed it also! i will recommend this book to SO many people!!!!!!

"The Cupcake Queen" is all about Penny Lane, who is forced to live in the country even though she is a city girl. Her mother opens a cupcake bakery, called The Cupcake Queen. Penny finds it hard to fit in at school, and at once the popular girls start to prank her. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, mostly because many girls are facing the same problems as Penny - moving away from friends, facing and dealing with being new in a strange place. A novel like this can make many girls stand up for themselves and their personality.

Penny Lane is definitely a fish out of water. She has moved to Hog's Hollow with her mother. Hog's Hollow is her mother's hometown, and they've temporarily moved in with Penny's grandmother. At least that's what her mom has told her. Penny would much rather return to New York and live with her father. Penny's not looking forward to starting school in her new town. Before school starts, a disaster occurs at a birthday party. Her mom has opened a cupcake business in town and the father of the birthday girl caused the food table to tumble. But no one blames Mr. Wharton. All eyes are on Penny and her mom. When Penny arrives at her new school, of course Charity, the birthday girl, is the queen of all and makes life miserable. It starts with a play on her name when she opens her locker and hundreds of pennies come tumbling out. The only bright spot in the fiasco is that she is befriended by independent Tally. But the pennies are only the first of many attempts to torture Penny. Penny constantly wants to return to New York. Her mom isn't communicating with her, and conversations with her father are limited. Her grandma tries to get her to talk to her mom. And Penny is stuck working at the cupcake bakery. Penny is creative though, and designs amazing artwork on each of the cupcakes. Through it all, Penny encounters a boy and his dog on the beach. Slowly, she learns about Marcus and the secrets that he's keeping. It turns out that everyone seems to have secrets deep inside. As Penny's wish to return to New York becomes reality, she comes to the realization that there's more to Hog's Hollow than she realized. Does she want to return to New York or finally make Hog's Hollow home? Reading THE CUPCAKE QUEEN made me think of Jenny B. Jones' SO NOT HAPPENING novel. Both have the main character, a city girl, stuck in the middle of a small town. Penny is torn between her old life and the life that is being forced upon her. It takes other interesting students to make her realize what she has even in light of the hassles received from Charity and her gang. I enjoyed reading THE CUPCAKE QUEEN quite a bit and sat down and finished it in one evening. It's one of those stories that you don't want to see end. I'd love to see more of Penny and her friends!! Reviewed by: Jaglvr

The "Cupcake Queen" reminds me of Opal from "Because of Winn Dixie" trying to figure out where she fits. Penelope Lane (aka Penny Lane) is a young teenager with an artistic eye who finds herself transplanted from New York City to Hog's Hollow, helping out at the family cupcake shop. Penny encounters an interesting assortment of new found friends and enemies, each with stories of their own . . . all in all a great read.

Our mother-daughter book club loved this book. When Penny Lane is forced to leave her life in New York City to live in Hog's Hollow while her mother "finds herself," Penny's world is turned around and upside down. Instead of running an art gallery, her mother is running a bakery, a cupcake bakery. An artist herself, Penny turns to decorating cupcakes ... the descriptions of her designs were some of our favorite parts in the book. Penny understands that her parents are separated, but they won't talk to her. They won't tell her what happens next ... to Penny. Hog's Hollow is her Mom's hometown, and Penny discovers things she never dreamed of knowing. Better (or worse?) yet, Penny meets new friends (and not-friends), a mysterious boy, and her new best friend, Tally. We all decorated cupcakes for the club meeting, inspired by Penny's incredible designs, and we talked about how life changes, the differences between living in a big city (which we do) and a small town, and the Secret Lives of Parents. It was one of our best discussions yet.