It's Raining Cupcakes
Twelve-year-old Isabel confronts her dread of becoming the same kind of fear-driven creature as her mother in this brisk story of family and friendship. Through each chapter—named for flavors being tested for inclusion on the menu of the eponymously named cupcake shop that Isabel’s mother hopes to open—readers follow the family’s work to prepare the shop space, cope with the would-be proprietor’s fear of failure, and plan a publicity battle against a mega chain bakery. Isabel seems realistic—she wants to travel beyond her small Oregon town and in the meantime is working hard to provide her family, who are small business owners, much-needed emotional support. Other characters, including both her parents, her grandmother, her best friend, and her helpful adult neighbors, are flatter and serve more to elucidate Isabel and advance the plot than to add complexity to the story. A few cupcake recipes are provided at the happily-for-now close of the story. Grades 4-7. --Francisca Goldsmith--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.