The Truth About Twinkie Pie by Kat Yeh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Received: Hachette Book Group Canada
Publication Date: January 27th, 2015
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Point of View: 1st Person & Feminine
Recommended Age: 10+
Pacing: Fast
Genres & Themes: Middle Grade, Family, Contemporary, Friendship, Food

BLURB:

There’s something about asking for Impossible Things. For one little second, they feel Possible.

Take two sisters making it on their own: brainy twelve-year-old GiGi and junior-high-dropout-turned-hairstylist DiDi. Add a million dollars in prize money from a national cooking contest and a move from the trailer parks of South Carolina to the North Shore of Long Island. Mix in a fancy new school, new friends and enemies, a first crush, and a generous sprinkling of family secrets.

That’s the recipe for The Truth About Twinkie Pie, a voice-driven middle-grade debut about the true meaning of family and friendship.

What a sweet book! ‘‘Sweet’’ because the themes of friendship and family are really beautifully explored, though they enlighten or darken the atmosphere depending on the scene, and ‘‘sweet’’ because…

Wait for it… there are actual recipes for sweet aliments in this book! And many at that – at least twenty.

How original is that? Never saw this being done before. The only thing that was missing regarding those is some pictures, but that’s being greedy.

I absolutely had fun reading this book. You know, I can never tire of family and friendship-themed books, whether they’re adult stories, young adult novels or, in this case, middle grade ones.

After DiDi wins a million dollars, she and her sister GiGi move to Long Island where DiDi enrols her sister to a prestigious school. GiGi is not psyched about leaving their past behind, but she decides to create a new her, because what’s the best thing about changing schools? You can start anew.

She makes friends. She makes enemies. She changes her name. She changes her habits. She finds someone to love. She finds… secrets to uncover.

It’s a lot of family drama, heart-warming interactions between sisters, finding who you are and who you want to be. It’s also about forgiveness and understanding.

I don’t see why any fan of such vibrant, moving and engaging stories should miss out on this one.

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