The Cupcake Queen

So. As you can tell, this is a very masculine book and is not for the faint of heart. Haha, yeah right. I should probably send out an apology to any guys out there reading this; I haven't exactly been reviewing the most guy-friendly books lately. Still, next week is gonna be an adventure-type book. Bear with me. Anyway, this is kinda like a Meg Cabot book but a little bit more meaningful and not quite as bubbly. It's a quick read; I finished it in about two days. It's also quite entertaining to read when you've lived in a bigger place and then moved to Sitka (like me). So, here's The Cupcake Queen by Heather Hepler.
Penny Lane,14, is the poster girl for a "fish out of water." She has just moved to Hog's Hollow (population 5, 134) from New York City (population 8.2 million) with her mom because her parents were fighting. Her dad is still living in the city. Her mom took the move as an opportunity to open up an all-cupcake bakery called the Cupcake Queen, and that's where this whole fiasco starts.
When a set-up of several dozen pink cupcakes made for a birthday party goes downhill, the outcome is that the spoiled birthday girl Charity (kind of an ironic name) ends up covered in pink frosting. Even worse, Penny finds out when she goes back to school that Charity is a) in her grade, b) extremely popular, and c) bent on making her life hell. With the help of her posse, Charity manages to fill her locker with pennies, spill paint on her jeans, ruin her art project, and leave a dead fish in her locker over the weekend. The only bright spot in the town is her newfound friend Tally, a non-conforming, animal-loving, somewhat strange activist who is a little too addicted to dying her hair weird colors. Scratch that, there's two bright spots in the town. The mysterious Marcus, who is always running on the beach, seems to have taken an interest in her. Only problem is, Charity's taken an interest in him.
So, Penny learns that the town is filled with ups and downs, highs and lows. She starts to wonder: is it possible that she's falling in love with the town?
This one comes greatly recommended for any girl from middle school to high school. It's kinda sad at times, funny at times, and overall really cool. It explores the imperfections of everyone's life, the misconceptions we all have about each other, and the little things that should be held onto. It's really well-written and you should totally read it. It isn't at the library, though, so you can Interlibrary Loan it or find it at Old Harbor Books.
P.S. Check out the sidebar for a new contest. It should be fun!