The Magic Cake Shop

Gr 3—5—Don't be fooled by the sugary pink cover featuring sparkly cakes and candy stripes; Emma Burblee's story is not sweet. Emma, whose parents are obsessed with being perfect, is sent to stay with her lazy, fat, nefarious Uncle Simon for the summer. He forces her to do all of his CHORES—including hauling massive quantities of dessert from the town bakery on her back. Soon, 10-year-old Emma finds herself working against the clock to save the town's much-loved baker, who has been poisoned as part of Simon's latest get-rich-quick scheme. The story line is erratic (all of the elixirs, poisons, and antidotes are hard to keep track of), and the focus is less on magic and baking and more on ridiculous family members and bizarre turns of events. At times, the line between irreverent and inappropriate is pushed (Uncle Simon tells Emma that she won't be able to sit for a week if she steals any of his treats). Readers will likely lose their appetites for this book long before reaching the end.—Amanda Moss Struckmeyer, Middleton Public Library, WI