Crime Scene Procrastinator by Josh Berk

“Guy Langman can't be bothered with much. But when his friend Anoop wants Guy to join the forensics club with him in the (possibly misguided) hopes of impressing some girls, Guy thinks why not.
They certainly aren't expecting to find a real dead body on the simulated crime scene they're assigned to collect evidence from. But after some girlish, undignified screaming, the two realize it is indeed a body. Which means they have stumbled across a real, dead murder victim.
Meanwhile, Guy has been looking into the past of his father—a larger-than-life character who recently passed away. He was much older than Guy's mom, and had a whole past Guy never even knew about. Could his father's past and the dead body be linked? Does Guy want to know? He's going to need all his newfound forensics skills to find out . . .”

I didn’t enjoy this book at all. The crime didn’t happen till more than half way through the book, and it was slow. It was filled with crude jokes and raunchy…behavior I suppose is the right word. He spent a lot of time repeating himself. It was just a little too much. The Langman family is supposed to be Jewish, except it wasn’t conveyed respectfully. I’ve met a few Jewish people, all of them very religious and intelligent in the extreme. If all these aspects were more mild, I might like it. But it was just way too much. I do not recommend this book. It was too childish.

Winner Bakes All by Sheryl & Carrie Berk

Meet Sadie.

When she's not mixing it up on the basketball court, she's mixing the perfect batter with her friends in the cupcake club. Sadie's definitely no stranger to competition, but the oven mitts are off when the club is chosen to appear on Battle of the Bakers, the ultimate cupcake competition on TV.

But the real battle happens off camera when the club's baking business starts losing money.

With the clock ticking and the cameras rolling, will the club and their cupcakes rise to the occasion?

This is such a delightful chapter book! I know my sister and I would have really loved to have had this as kids. A lot happens to Sadie in this book, fears of money troubles and fears over her parent’s arguments (which I think most kids can identify with.) She has two harassing brothers that ultimately always have her back…and she has her friends and PLC (Peace, Love, Cupcakes.) I don’t want to go into too much detail because that would ruin the book, but I really enjoyed how this book expressed that winning isn’t everything. I think that this would make a perfect treat (pun completely intended) for young girls who show an interest in baking!

I don’t want to sound shallow…but I have to say, my favorite part is the section of cupcake recipes in the back. Yeah, I’m kind of a foodie.  (Golden Caramel Cupcakes, yep, sounds like heaven…)
This book was provided to me by the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review.
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