Scan barcode
A review by mrskatiefitz
Jeremy Bender vs. the Cupcake Cadets by Eric Luper
4.0
Jeremy Bender is eleven years old, and he has a serious problem. He and his best friend, Slater, are working on his dad's boat when they aren't supposed to be, and next thing they know, it needs some pretty substantial repairs - to the tune of $470! Even if the boys pool their allowances, they know they don't have that much, so they start searching for other ways to bring in some cash. When an advertisement at the public library alerts them to a sailboat race sponsored by the Cupcake Cadets, they're thrilled by the possibility of a 500-dollar prize, but disappointed that they can't enter because they're not girls. Desperate and determined, Jeremy decides they will pose as girls, infiltrate the Cadets, and win the prize. But being a Cupcake Cadet is nowhere near as easy as it sounds, and the boys have to jump through many hoops before they can even enter the contest.
I am not usually crazy about stories where boys disguise themselves as girls or vice versa, because I don't find them very believable, and that annoys me. But I really enjoyed Eric Luper's YA novel, Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto, and decided it would be worth braving the possible pitfalls of the plot to read some more of his work. I was right. Eric Luper is a master of "buddy comedy" stories. Like Seth Baumgartner and his best friend, Dimitri, Jeremy and Slater have a humorous rapport. Their dialogue comes right off the page, bringing the characters to life, and investing the reader in their success. Luper has a great understanding of friendship between middle school boys, and also does a great job of portraying the logic that leads the eleven-year-old mind to do some pretty unusual things.
I also thought this book explored a lot of interesting gender issues without being preachy or overly obvious about it. It was great to see a couple of boys who aren't especially sporty thrown in with a group of girls who play lacrosse very aggressively, for example. This book turns a lot of gender stereotypes on their heads, and plays with them a bit, giving the reader a lot to laugh - and think - about.
I was also thrilled to see that this book has a librarian in it who is not a walking, talking cliche. I get so tired of seeing fictional librarians saying "shush" or refusing to help kids, or kicking them out for talking. Yes, it happens, but it's not very interesting to read about, and often it adds nothing to the story. The librarian in this book, Ms. Morrison, is actually three-dimensional. She talks to Slater and Jeremy like they're people with minds of their own, and even confides in them a little bit about some library politics vis a vis teens and making noise in the library.
Here's just one little snippet of a library scene:
Ms. Morrison propped her feet on the lower shelf of the book cart. Her fuzzy rainbow socks looked like twin puppets. "What do I know about windjammers?" she said. "I'm just a children's librarian. Anyhow, I've got troubles of my own."
"What sort of trouble does a children's librarian have?" Slater asked. "Isn't it all cats wearing hats and boy wizards with facial scars?"
That cracked me up, mostly because I think plenty of people have that attitude, including lots of eleven year old boys.
I would recommend this book to readers who enjoyed The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander or Liar Liar and Flat Broke by Gary Paulsen. All are about boys looking to make money, and all deal with friendships among adolescent boys. It's also a good one to recommend to girls, particularly girl scouts, who will undoubtedly get a kick out of the idea of boys trying to secretly join their troop.
I am not usually crazy about stories where boys disguise themselves as girls or vice versa, because I don't find them very believable, and that annoys me. But I really enjoyed Eric Luper's YA novel, Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto, and decided it would be worth braving the possible pitfalls of the plot to read some more of his work. I was right. Eric Luper is a master of "buddy comedy" stories. Like Seth Baumgartner and his best friend, Dimitri, Jeremy and Slater have a humorous rapport. Their dialogue comes right off the page, bringing the characters to life, and investing the reader in their success. Luper has a great understanding of friendship between middle school boys, and also does a great job of portraying the logic that leads the eleven-year-old mind to do some pretty unusual things.
I also thought this book explored a lot of interesting gender issues without being preachy or overly obvious about it. It was great to see a couple of boys who aren't especially sporty thrown in with a group of girls who play lacrosse very aggressively, for example. This book turns a lot of gender stereotypes on their heads, and plays with them a bit, giving the reader a lot to laugh - and think - about.
I was also thrilled to see that this book has a librarian in it who is not a walking, talking cliche. I get so tired of seeing fictional librarians saying "shush" or refusing to help kids, or kicking them out for talking. Yes, it happens, but it's not very interesting to read about, and often it adds nothing to the story. The librarian in this book, Ms. Morrison, is actually three-dimensional. She talks to Slater and Jeremy like they're people with minds of their own, and even confides in them a little bit about some library politics vis a vis teens and making noise in the library.
Here's just one little snippet of a library scene:
Ms. Morrison propped her feet on the lower shelf of the book cart. Her fuzzy rainbow socks looked like twin puppets. "What do I know about windjammers?" she said. "I'm just a children's librarian. Anyhow, I've got troubles of my own."
"What sort of trouble does a children's librarian have?" Slater asked. "Isn't it all cats wearing hats and boy wizards with facial scars?"
That cracked me up, mostly because I think plenty of people have that attitude, including lots of eleven year old boys.
I would recommend this book to readers who enjoyed The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander or Liar Liar and Flat Broke by Gary Paulsen. All are about boys looking to make money, and all deal with friendships among adolescent boys. It's also a good one to recommend to girls, particularly girl scouts, who will undoubtedly get a kick out of the idea of boys trying to secretly join their troop.