RECIPE FOR TROUBLE

Kylie and her friends, introduced in Peace, Love and Cupcakes (2012), are back for another bakefest.

Founders of a successful cupcake-baking club they call “Peace, Love and Cupcakes,” the girls are now entering fifth grade and have been separated for the summer. Lexi, the focus of this installment, spent part of the summer with her quirky aunt in New York City, but she experiences some jealousy as her friends come back with stories of their own summer adventures. After school starts, she’s attracted to Jeremy, with whom she’s been partnered in the school production of Romeo and Juliet. This makes for some uncomfortable moments as she, with her friends egging her on, searches for a way to let him know she likes him. Meanwhile, the girls are baking at-times vast quantities of cupcakes to fill commercial orders. One weekend they need to come up with 3,500 cupcakes, baked and decorated, which they—remarkably—do! The entrepreneurial aspects of the club seem far beyond the capabilities of a few grade schoolers, however motivated. While most of the interactions and situations (except the baking, and the Shakespeare is a stretch) are typical of the age, there’s nothing terrifically compelling going on here. Appended recipes add an amusing, probably yummy, dimension.

Fans of the first effort—and young bakers—will likely enjoy another outing, but it’s nothing more than an average early chapter book in a crowded field.