Close to Famous by Joan Bauer 250 pages

Just look at the luscious cover of this book! Foster is a young girl who has dealt with heartache (her beloved dad died a soldier in Iraq), by watching the Food Network and adopting TV cooking show celebrity idol Sonny Kroll as her mentor/idol. Her goal is to have her own TV cooking show someday, sharing recipes, techniques, and morsels of homespun wisdom. Achieving this goal is not going to be easy. She can't read. Her mom yanks her from their home and flee Memphis. In the escape from mom's abusive, egomanical boyfriend Foster loses her pillowcase -- her treasure box of all her letters, medals and mementos of her father. Although she is devastated, she makes new friends and literally cooks up a job for herself. She becomes Culpepper's cupcake queen, whipping up cupcakes and muffins each day and selling them to a gruff diner owner, Angry Wayne. Her newest friend introduces her to the town celebrity, Miss Charleena, who seems to be hiding out from Hollywood and the world. Before you can say chocolate cupcake, Charleena is teaching Foster to read and Foster is teaching Charleena to cook. This book has a lot of teachable moments. My only complaint is that Bauer, who has written plenty of award winning teen books, but no cookbooks, does not include any recipes. Any reader will be craving a yummy cupcake or moist muffin before finishing this book.