The truth about Twinkie Pie

Here's what I wrote mid-book:
I'm in the middle of The Truth About Twinkie Pie (no trees or thieves, so far) which arrived this week from the publisher. It's a gentle little story of a twelve-year-old girl, Double-G (real name: Galileo Galilei...yes, her mother named her after that fellow in the hopes that she, too, would grow up to be a scientist) who attempts to shift from following the agenda of others to pursuing her own agenda. Much of the story's charm lies in the collection of oddball recipes from GiGi's dead mother featured at the end of each chapter, related in her charming mother's voice, recipes no one would really want to make but which can't help being quite captivating. I don't quite know how it's going to work out yet, but I can't wait to read on.

And that's all I'm going to say, as much of the story's charm turns out (not a spoiler) to be the clever way the plot and the recipes and the stories the characters tell all twist and turn and intertwine together and I really don't want to ruin that for you. I think it's enough to say that this was a lovely, lovely read.

This book was as sweet as Twinkie Pie. I loved GiGi as a narrator, through all her ups and downs, and the folksy recipes throughout worked for me. It's an interesting book about class, private schools, friendship, food, family ... and a little bit of a tearjerker, too. A great pick for middle school fans of realistic fiction.