Today I'm excited to offer a sneak peak into the book Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake by Julie Sternberg! Julie received her MFA in writing for children from the New School. She is the author of Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie and Like Bug Juice on a Burger. She lives in Brooklyn with her family. Matthew Cordell is the illustrator of Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie, Like Bug Juice on a Burger, Bat and Rat, and Trouble Gum. He lives outside Chicago. Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake will available on March 18th in hardcover and e-book. You can visit Julie Sternberg's website for more information and for a curriculum guide follow this link.
Title: Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake
Author: Julie Sternberg
Illustrator: Matthew Cordell
Publisher: Amulet Books
Publication Date: March 18, 2014
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Novel In Verse
GoodReads Summary: I did a mean thing.
A very mean thing.
I HATE that I did it.
But I did.
This is worse than
carrot juice on a cupcake
or a wasp on my pillow
or a dress that’s too tight at the neck.In the third installment from the team who created Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie and Like Bug Juice on a Burger, Eleanor’s relationship with her best friend, Pearl, experiences its first growing pains. When a glamorous new student transfers to school, at first Eleanor’s excited about the possibility of a new friend. But when Pearl is assigned to be the new girl’s buddy, Eleanor fears she can’t compete. To make matters worse, Eleanor’s been chosen for the lead role in the springtime musical, which means she has to sing a solo in front of the entire school! From overcoming stage fright to having a secret crush, young readers will relate to Eleanor as she navigates the bittersweet waters of growing up.
What I Think: I'm a huge fan of this series but Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake is my favorite. I love how much Eleanor has grown up. In this story she is dealing with friend problems and secret crush problems and stage fright but I love how she handles it all. It's always hard to experience something humiliating or cringe-worthy in a book but I love how Eleanor's parents help her deal with her situation and how her friends chip in, too. Kids will definitely relate to Eleanor (just as much as before) and also hopefully learn something about being a friend along the way.
There don't see to be many novels-in-verse for young readers so I'm glad we have this series. I especially noticed some great similes throughout this book. As a mentor text, kids could be on the look out for similes or other examples of descriptive writing. There is a great scene at the end where Eleanor is desperately pleading with the lunch lady for pickles which cracked me up (see the snatch of text...I just grabbed one sentence but the entire scene is great). This scene would be a perfect mentor texts for students about freezing time and building the tension in the scene. At this point in the story, Eleanor needs to do something to show Pearl how sorry she is and she is determined to eat a pickle. I, myself, am not a huge fan of pickles so I certainly understand just how serious this act of friendship is and I have a feeling young readers might relate as well.
Read Together: Grades 2 - 5
Read Alone: Grades 3 - 5
Read With: Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie and Like Bug Juice on a Burger by Julie Sternberg, Bink and Golli (series) by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, Keena Ford and the Second Grade Mix Up by Melissa Thomson, Where I Live by Eileen Spinelli, Hound Dog True and A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban
Snatch of Text:
"Together,
the whole entire recess,
they did a fancy hand-clapping game
that I'd never seen before!" (p. 153)
 |
| Pear and the new girl, Ainsley |
"I don't like carrot sticks,
and I would never drink carrot juice -
it smells disgusting!" (p. 100)
"I got ready to climb over the steaming meatballs
and push past that lady
and search the kitchen myself." (p. 148)
 |
| Eleanor busily working to mend hurt feelings. |
'The important thing
is to keep trying to make up for them,
for as long as it takes.'" (p. 132)
Writing Strategies to Practice: Similes, Descriptive, Personal Narrative
Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you let someone down and how you handled the situation afterwards. Write about a time in your life when someone let you down and how it made you feel. Take a moment in time when something desperate was happening to you, freeze it and describe it so that your readers feel the how urgent the situation is.
Topics Covered: Friendship, Family, Forgiveness, Relationships, Trust, Courage
I *heart* It:
No comments:
Post a Comment