Emma All Stirred Up

Emma needs a break from big-sister duty in this addition to Spotlight’s treat of a tween series. Emma is not thrilled with always having to rearrange her schedule so she can babysit her younger brother, Jake. Now Emma’s parents have broken some news that really threatens to push Emma over the edge—since Emma and Jake are going to the same day camp this summer, she’s expected to sit with Jake on the bus. Not only does this mean Emma can’t hang out with her friends, but she also has to comfort Jake—who has a serious issue with motion sickness. Can Emma find a way to sweeten up her summer plans?

Already frustrated about having to babysit her younger brother, Emma is disgusted when she learns she will have to sit with him on the bus when they go to summer day camp and deal with his susceptibility to motion sickness.

Although Mia feels fairly satisfied with her life, she worries about who should attend parent-teacher night and her failing grade in Spanish.

Katie thinks things might get back to normal and then Callie announces that the Popular Girls Club is baking cupcakes for a fund-raiser at school.

A sporty addition to a sweet tween series that’s all about friendship—and cupcakes, of course! Katie’s Cupcake Club friends all have other activities besides making cupcakes: Mia and Alexis are on the soccer team and Emma plays the flute. Katie sets out to find her extracurricular niche and soon she’s dribbling, passing, and catching. Sure, Katie can whip up a great cupcake—but can she cook on the field too? When Katie tries out and makes the softball team it’s batter up….But instead of swinging away, she gets nervous during games. What if she makes a mistake? What if they lose? Is this the kind of batter Katie really wants to be dealing with? Katie starts to figure out that doing what you love always makes the batter sweeter.

Allie must find a balance between being a boss and being a friend in this second delicious book in the Sprinkle Sundays series from the author of the Cupcake Diaries series! Now that the girls all work at the ice cream shop on Sundays, Allie sees her friends’ jobs through a different lens. If they mess up the cash register by a few dollars Tamiko simply shrugs, but Allie knows that by the end of the week all those little misses can add up. She doesn’t want to be their boss, but somehow she needs to figure out a way to make sure she’s part of a team that can see things from her perspective, too. She just has to do it before the cracks in the cone melt their friendship.

Alexis is the clear leader of the group. She's organized, punctual, and happy to take on the stuff like scheduling, budgets, invoicing, and the things that the other girls in the CC don't really want to do. In other words, the "unfun" things. One day, in a burst of feeling unappreciated, Alexis informs the Cupcake Club that she is no longer "in charge." But when deadlines get missed and supplies aren't bought, the girls realizes somebody definitely needs to be the leader. And Alexis realizes being the leader is kind of cool; as long as you know when to ask for help when you need it!

Emma's younger brother Jake has tonsillitis and makes life difficult for Emma, while the Cupcake Club girls are spoiling him with cupcakes and little gifts.