The Truth About Twinkie Pie by Kat Yeh

Standalone. Little, Brown (Jan. 2015) Library

Take two sisters making it on their own: brainy twelve-year-old GiGi (short for Galileo Galilei, a name she never says out loud) and junior-high-dropout-turned-hairstylist DiDi (short for Delta Dawn). Add a million dollars in prize money from a national cooking contest and a move from the trailer parks of South Carolina to the Gold Coast of New York. Mix in a fancy new school, new friends and enemies, a first crush, and a generous sprinkling of family secrets.
That's the recipe for The Truth About Twinkie Pie, a voice-driven middle grade debut about the true meaning of family and friendship.

              


A new move means a new start for Gigi. She wants to leave her nickname behind (Double G) and stop studying all the time to take some time and make some friends. Gigi now Leia (nicknames include G or G-Girl) has always been the girl who studied during lunchtime, after school, and even on weekends. Her sister, Didi, has always stressed the importance of G being ahead and studying whenever she could. It's what their mama would have wanted. Their mama died a long time ago and all they have left of her are her recipes and her dreams. Didi, was named after her mama. Her real name is Delta Dawn after an old country song. Gigi's real name... I'll let that be a surprise. Didi has always told stories about their mama and what she wants for her daughters. Didi became a hairdresser like her mama and Gigi is expected to be someone important like a famous scientist.

G has always been told that she must keep her head in the books, but with this new move she makes a plan to get some friends. Lucky her, she meets Trip - who she hates to say is a beautiful boy. She becomes great friends with him and his friend Billy. One person that doesn't like this development is Mace, who always has a rude thing to say to G. G doesn't let Mace get her down like she would in her old hometown. She lets it slide off her until she starts getting into her personal life.

"Walking through town with Trip, I thought about how easily he had folded me into his group. Sometimes when Didi makes peanut butter cookies, she'll get all cranky trying to blend the peanut butter in the sugar, eggs, and butter. See, the peanut butter always stays in a big clump and the eggs are all slimy and you have to really work at it before everything gets nice and smooth. But the way Trip pulled me into his buttery, sugary life, you'd never know when I was peanut butter in the first place."

There are so many things I want to say about The Truth About Twinkie Pie, but I don't want to ruin it. It's about so much more than I could have hoped. I just saw the cover and thought this is about food so I must read it. It's much more than a book about food although it does have some recipes that look delicious. It's about family, friendship, being heard, and creating your own way in life. There's a lot of trying to figure out who you are in this book too. There's so much at twelve years old and as a young adult too that you are trying to figure out - mostly your place in this world. G explores this theme throughout the story. She learns so much about herself.

There are so many twists to The Truth About Twinkie Pie. I thought I had it all figured out, but authors like Yeh continue to impress me with their deceptionally good writing. Also, there are so many moments that are so wonderful in this story. The friendships G makes and her interactions with Mace really shape this story. G is a fantastic character to follow and how the world changes before her eyes. I can't come up with the right words, however I will say that don't go into this book thinking it's just going to be another middle grade read. It's so much more than that. The Truth About Me is so good and I can't express my feelings for it as much as I would like to which is just so frustrating. I'll just say that if you like MG books you'll love The Truth About Twinkie Pie. Trust me.