THE CUPCAKE QUEENby Heather Hepler

“The second tower is positioned right in front of Charity, who at that very moment has her hand poised over a particularly large cupcake. . . . She ends up wearing a dozen or more cupcakes like a hat while half a dozen more slide slowly down the

front of her dress(15).”

Charity is the antagonist and the first thing that sets her off is the disaster ather party. She blames Penny, the main character, and protagonist, for whathappened. She doesn’t bother to remember Penny’s name until after thiswhich infers that she won’t forget what happened at her party.

“I stare out the window, seeing the big wooden sign for Hog’s Hollow. WELCOME HOME, it says at the bottom. The brochures my mother keeps in the bakery describe

the rustic charm of the area. If rustic means “old,” they’re right(18).”

The main character, who is also the narrator, explains to us howshe feels about the new town she will be living in. For the maincharacter this is a internal conflict.

“I notice that the bottom part of the locker is bowed out a little and I push it and hear it click. Maybe that will help. I try it again and this time the latch comes up. . . . It starts slowly. One penny falls out. Then two, but then the weight of them pushes the door open and it’s a wave of pennies. Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands. A penny tsunami. I mean, how many pennies does it take to fill up a whole locker?(34&35)”

The antagonist and their crew is bullying the protagonist. Since her name isPenny, they thought it would be funny to fill her locker up with hundreds orthousands pennies. The narrator tries to help you picture the pennies fallingout of the locker by using words like “wave” and “tsunami”.

“’I know its hard for you.’ ‘What exactly is hard for me?’ I ask. . . . She sighs again. ‘Starting a new school. . .making new friends. . .’ Say it! I think. Just tell me what I already know. . . . Finally she says, ‘Penny, your father and I are separating.’ ‘What

does that mean?’. . . .’Living three hundred miles away from each other already seems pretty separated to me.’(141)”

The main character’s parents are splitting up. She has had an idea that

something was going on but no one would tell her anything. Theauthor makes you feel sympathy for Penny through sentence fluency.

I would use a picture of a family picture being ripped in the middle. I could not find a picture to use.

“Ever since we moved from Manhattan, population 1.6 million, to Hog’s Hollow, population 5,134. . . .(6)”

The main setting is in Hog’s Hollow. Penny is now livingin Hog’s Hollow, a small quiet town, compared to poshManhattan, with her grandmother and mother.

I would use a picture of a map with big cities and you couldn’t see any of the smaller cities. I could not find a picture to use.

“I don’t want to start a new school and make new friends. I don’t want to have a mother who runs a bakery called The

Cupcake Queen.(9)”

The second most important setting is the bakeryPenny’s has started in Hog’s Hollow. The main characterspends most of her time in the bakery to avoidconfrontation with anybody her age.

“She passes around old HHHS yearbooks, featuring photos of parade floats.(123)”

The third most important setting is at the a Hog’s Hollow HighSchool. The main character runs into most of her conflicts here.She also spends quite a bit of time here too.

“Mostly, I say to myself as he walks away, his box slapping against his leg. I’m not so sure. I’ve seen her be nasty to other kids, but with me she turns the

meanness volume way up. She doesn’t even try to lower her voice when she’s ragging on me. . . . And she never lets up.(117)”

The narrator is first person narrator and the main character. Inthis selected piece of text the main character’s attitude isshowing you that she doesn’t like that person she is talkingabout.