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sarahscupofcoffee 's review for:
The Truth About Twinkie Pie
by Kat Yeh
Read this review and other young adult (and mid-grade I guess) books at sarahthebooknerd.home.blog!
The Truth About Twinkie Pie by Kat Yeh is about a pair of sisters facing life by themselves. DiDi is the older sister and a hair stylist. She ended up winning a baking competition, making her a millionaire. She used part of that money to move her sister and herself to the North Shore of Long Island, so GiGi could attend seventh grade at a fancy school that deserved her intellect. GiGi is a twelve year old girl, whom faces many typical twelve-year-old-girl things: making new friends, experiencing the toils of her first crush, and crippling family secrets.
My first impressions of this book weren't the best, if I'm being honest. I'm reading this as a favor to a friend; I will be posting bits of this review as a guest post on her blog, as well. I didn't want to pay full price for a book that I was sure I wouldn't enjoy. (pst... I'm one of those judge-the-book-by-its-cover-and-title readers.) So, I went on eBay and found this copy for two dollars.
I opened it up when it arrived and found it was a signed copy! It was well-loved before I bought it, so the dust jacket is dirty and there's a pesky Goodwill sticker on the spine. However, I screamed and ran through the house, announcing how I scored a signed copy of a book for two whole dollars. My boyfriend didn't appreciate it with rolling of the eyes and a sideways smile.
Anyway, I'm not usually a mid-grade reader. There is a huge difference between mid-grade books and young adult books, which I can get into in a future blog post. However, I was hooked on The Truth About Twinkie Pie from the first chapter. It's a great first chapter. It shows us who GiGi is, what she wanted, and the writing is incredible.
Not only did the first chapter hook me, but Kat Yeh did an amazing job with her debut novel as she integrated various recipes into the story. The recipes are not written as typical, linear recipes. They're short, sweet, to the point, but loaded with humor and personality. The best part about the recipes is that they are folded (see what I did there?) into the plot! Each recipe corresponds with what is happening in the story--and each recipe seems easy to prepare, as well. So easy, actually, that kids would be able to make most of them!
I wanted to make each one as I came across it just for sentimental value. That's how amazingly connected they are with the characters! I am planning on trying out one of the recipes and posting about my experience, so stay tuned for that!
The characters resonated with me because they are easy to relate to. GiGi is a spitefire and DiDi has a certain charm that's difficult to capture in writing. One of the reasons I don't like mid-grade fiction much is because the authors "dumb down" the language and the content. Kat Yeh didn't do that. Yes, the language is easy for audience she targeted to understand, but it was satisfying to read as an adult, too.
The content was real. She talked about real issues, such as jealousy, grief, relationships, problems with friendships, and struggles with parents. Young kiddos can relate to this, but adults would be able to relate to this book, too.
The Truth About Twinkie Pie reminds me a lot of a younger version of Looking for Alaska by John Green. Green talks about real-life things and poses serious questions for his readers to ponder. He ends the novel with an introspective essay that was assigned. Yeh talks about real-life things and poses serious questions for her readers to ponder. She ends the novel with an introspective poem that was assigned.
If you want to buddy-read (as an adult) a book with your child (or any child), I suggest trying this book. The Truth About Twinkie Pie would be an amazing book to read with your kid because of the recipes you could make with them and it won't bore you to tears while reading it. Plus, it'll give you a good opportunity to discuss some real topics with your kiddo that might not come up as naturally without a prompt.
The Truth About Twinkie Pie by Kat Yeh was published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on January 27, 2015.
Kat Yeh (http://katyeh.com/HOME.html) is a children's author. She wrote three picture books and two novels (including this one). The Way to Bea was published in 2017 and is her second novel.
The Truth About Twinkie Pie by Kat Yeh is about a pair of sisters facing life by themselves. DiDi is the older sister and a hair stylist. She ended up winning a baking competition, making her a millionaire. She used part of that money to move her sister and herself to the North Shore of Long Island, so GiGi could attend seventh grade at a fancy school that deserved her intellect. GiGi is a twelve year old girl, whom faces many typical twelve-year-old-girl things: making new friends, experiencing the toils of her first crush, and crippling family secrets.
My first impressions of this book weren't the best, if I'm being honest. I'm reading this as a favor to a friend; I will be posting bits of this review as a guest post on her blog, as well. I didn't want to pay full price for a book that I was sure I wouldn't enjoy. (pst... I'm one of those judge-the-book-by-its-cover-and-title readers.) So, I went on eBay and found this copy for two dollars.
I opened it up when it arrived and found it was a signed copy! It was well-loved before I bought it, so the dust jacket is dirty and there's a pesky Goodwill sticker on the spine. However, I screamed and ran through the house, announcing how I scored a signed copy of a book for two whole dollars. My boyfriend didn't appreciate it with rolling of the eyes and a sideways smile.
Anyway, I'm not usually a mid-grade reader. There is a huge difference between mid-grade books and young adult books, which I can get into in a future blog post. However, I was hooked on The Truth About Twinkie Pie from the first chapter. It's a great first chapter. It shows us who GiGi is, what she wanted, and the writing is incredible.
Not only did the first chapter hook me, but Kat Yeh did an amazing job with her debut novel as she integrated various recipes into the story. The recipes are not written as typical, linear recipes. They're short, sweet, to the point, but loaded with humor and personality. The best part about the recipes is that they are folded (see what I did there?) into the plot! Each recipe corresponds with what is happening in the story--and each recipe seems easy to prepare, as well. So easy, actually, that kids would be able to make most of them!
I wanted to make each one as I came across it just for sentimental value. That's how amazingly connected they are with the characters! I am planning on trying out one of the recipes and posting about my experience, so stay tuned for that!
The characters resonated with me because they are easy to relate to. GiGi is a spitefire and DiDi has a certain charm that's difficult to capture in writing. One of the reasons I don't like mid-grade fiction much is because the authors "dumb down" the language and the content. Kat Yeh didn't do that. Yes, the language is easy for audience she targeted to understand, but it was satisfying to read as an adult, too.
The content was real. She talked about real issues, such as jealousy, grief, relationships, problems with friendships, and struggles with parents. Young kiddos can relate to this, but adults would be able to relate to this book, too.
The Truth About Twinkie Pie reminds me a lot of a younger version of Looking for Alaska by John Green. Green talks about real-life things and poses serious questions for his readers to ponder. He ends the novel with an introspective essay that was assigned. Yeh talks about real-life things and poses serious questions for her readers to ponder. She ends the novel with an introspective poem that was assigned.
If you want to buddy-read (as an adult) a book with your child (or any child), I suggest trying this book. The Truth About Twinkie Pie would be an amazing book to read with your kid because of the recipes you could make with them and it won't bore you to tears while reading it. Plus, it'll give you a good opportunity to discuss some real topics with your kiddo that might not come up as naturally without a prompt.
The Truth About Twinkie Pie by Kat Yeh was published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on January 27, 2015.
Kat Yeh (http://katyeh.com/HOME.html) is a children's author. She wrote three picture books and two novels (including this one). The Way to Bea was published in 2017 and is her second novel.