The Ripple Effect

by Rebecca Caprara

When 6th grader Zella’s class prank flops, she’s given a second chance to leave a lasting impact in this middle-grade novel about redemption, friendship, and kindness.

A perfect book club pick to inspire discussion, 9–12-year-old fans of Katherine Applegate’s Wishtree will love this hopeful story about the power of connection.

It’s the end of 6th grade and Zella wants to be the one who thinks of the best class prank—a long-held tradition that administrators allow, with parameters.

In alternating chapters told by Zella, best friends Bowie and Janea, Shelby the school sleuth, and the town of Kettleby, Zella's story reveals her quest to uphold her image as class clown and bask in the spotlight.

As a result, she loses sight of what’s going on in the lives of her two best friends and begins to cause more stress for her mom—who manages their family's failing ice cream shop while caring for Pops. Zella doesn’t mean to cause trouble, but being 12 is hard. Everything is changing, and everyone seems so much cooler and better understood.

When her prank doesn’t go as planned, the entire class is punished, and Zella is to blame. But when Zella's given a second chance, her small, subtle acts of thoughtfulness begin to grow. It turns out that redemption, friendship, and a remarkable chain of kindness tastes even sweeter than her family's famous raspberry ripple ice cream.

With humor and heart, The Ripple Effect's themes of kindness and connection will inspire young readers to even greater compassion and generosity in their own lives.

Genres: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Fiction

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 18, 2025

About the author

Rebecca Caprara graduated from Cornell University and practiced architecture before shifting her focus from bricks to books. She writes stories for readers of all ages and loves experimenting with narrative forms and new genres. Her work ranges from poetry and picture books to middle grade and young adult novels.

Reviews

[Serena · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF @ 55%

I recieved an ARC of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Let's see the first sentence of the goodreads synopsis:
"When 6th grader Zella’s class prank flops, she’s given a second chance to leave a lasting impact in this middle-grade novel about redemption, friendship, and kindness."
So tell me why I'm 55% through a 400 page middle grade book and none of that has happened yet. They just came up with the prank idea, and they're gathering materials. So what exactly have I read so far? Pages and pages of the main character's family life that could've been woven into the rest of the story, very confusing chapters from the POV of her friends and classmates who I can't for the life of me tell apart, and various cringy and unnecessary replacements of real world brands like "CliqueClock", "Chirp", "GameBot" and "Battleblox".
The main character is pretty stupid and I think that's on purpose, because according to the synopsis eventually she learns from her mistakes and etc. But the book kept trying to be profound at the same time, which only helped make the tone confusing to grasp.
Ultimately I think this is too long and not to the point for young middle grade readers, and too dumbed down for older middle grade readers. It leaves me wondering what the target age even is.

[Karis · Rating 2 out of 5]

~~Thank you to NetGalley and Charlesbridge for the ARC!~~

Middle grade contemporaries should not be, and feel, this long.

The pacing of the story dragged so much. It took about 250 pages for the prank to actually happen because so much page space was, in my opinion, wasted on repetitive thoughts and POVs from to many side characters. With the latter problem, I do understand why Caprara chose to include them, because they show what these kids and adults were going through and how Zella's actions directly impacted them, but I feel like this could have been accomplished if the POV had just stayed in Zella's head.

Other than that, the story as a whole was fine. Again, kids talking about social media, about likes, followers, and algorithms, will never not be weird to me (Especially if a certain ban goes through in the States and instantly ages any mentions and plots revolving around TikTok), but the story is still very grounded and relatable through themes of dementia, divorce, identity, and so on.

I can only hope the kids this book is intended for will enjoy it, because I'm disappointed I didn't.

[Sydney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This middle-grade contemporary novel touches on big themes of family and friendship. Unfortunately, the book didn’t quite live up to my expectations. The synopsis mentions a prank gone wrong, but that event doesn’t occur until over 60% into the story. While this could have worked with a shorter buildup, The Ripple Effect feels unnecessarily long at nearly 500 pages. The novel switches between a lot of perspectives of people living in the town, which starts off interesting but becomes unnecessary. If it were narrowed down to three perspectives, it would have sped up the pacing and prevented the story from dragging.

That said, the ending was genuinely touching. Zella took responsibility for the prank and used it to spread kindness instead. The idea of small acts of kindness was presented in a way that was incredibly impactful, showing how it could truly ripple through a community. The full-circle conclusion really brought everything together in a satisfying way.

If not for the long-winded middle section, I would have rated this 4 stars.

[Patricia Mae · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ripple Effect by Rebecca Caprara is a heartwarming and humorous middle-grade novel that is a perfect fit for readers who crave stories about the transformative power of kindness, friendship, and redemption, and who will be inspired by Zella's journey to spread compassion and generosity throughout her community.

-🌼First of all, I would like to thank NetGalley for giving me this free ARC to read, and I am thankful to read this one. I would like to thank the publisher of this book, which is Charlesbridge, for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. Lastly, I would like to thank the Author for writing this beautiful book and I'm glad to found this nice book. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
 
-🌼I found this book on NetGalley, which is why I picked this book. I loved reading middle-grade books until now, which reminds me of my childhood. This book is a free advance reader copy, and I always love picking free ARCs from the Netgalley website. I would like to recommend this book to my fellow readers to read this book and share it with some other readers. So, I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars, and this review will be posted on my Goodreads account.
 
-🌼The main character here in the book is Marzella Marie Trudi, and she has two best friends. Marzella and her parents run an ice cream shop since their grandparents built it. Marzella helps to run their ice cream shop, and I like that about her characteristics. She also makes pranks at school, which makes her a little bit popular. Now, it's almost their graduation day, and soon she will be in middle school. But her pranks were slowly fading, and her classmates found it not amusing anymore. Will she succeed in making a new plan to prank the whole school before she graduates? 
 
-🌼I think I like the writing because it was written in 1st POV, which means I like it because I can feel the connection through the characters. It was written in a dual POV between 2 or 3 characters, and it's really nice because I get to know more about the characters of the story. It was a really nice story, and it's been a while since I read middle-grade books. 

[Sails and Scales · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyment rating: 2
Quality rating: 3


This is a cute story but doesn’t bring a lot to the table. It’s not particularly bad or particularly good. Some readers will connect with it, but it’s fine overall. It’s predictable and the characters aren’t the most developed, but it’s lighthearted and has a good message.

The general message about spreading kindness and thinking about others is fine but not executed in a particularly special or notable way. It’s the kind of thing you’ve heard stories of people doing before, so the concept of the ripple affect and what she learns isn’t unique.

I didn’t think that the multiple POVs worked well. Instead of rounding out the story, it got harder to follow the different characters and what they wanted. I get that the different POVs were supposed to show how the main characters actions affected the people around her, but having them bogged down the story and made it take a long time for anything notable or important to happen. Zella’s growth would have been more apparent and impactful if the book had stuck to her POV instead. It takes a long time for the prank going wrong to happen, and most of the book’s important action happens too quickly at the end instead of being distributed well throughout the book because of those POVs.

That said, I do like the growth that Zella goes through. Part of growing up is learning to take responsibility and recognizing how what you do and say influences other people. Unfortunately, she also comes across as stupid and selfish for the majority of the book, and it’s hard to put past her actions just because of a grand conclusion. It is nice to have a prankster character dealing with big issues of growing up, friends’ interests changing and tough life concepts like a grandfather with dementia.

The execution of the message is a little too trite for the audience. Kids are smart, and this book seems to try to be deep and meaningful (particularly with its inclusions of things like dementia and divorce), but it also dumbs a lot of things down. The story itself probably would have worked better as a shorter book for younger readers with less attempts to hammer in the message.

Overall, the end message is sweet about how to make the world a better place and it’s cute at times, but the book overall isn’t likely to leave much of a ripple effect on readers or the world. It ends with warm, fuzzy feelings and may inspire readers to try their own pay it forward type efforts to make their communities a better place.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the premise of THE RIPPLE EFFECT. It's simple: a girl's prank goes wrong, forcing her to face some harsh facts about herself and learn valuable lessons in the process of making up for what she's done. For some reason, though, it takes the author 395 pages to tell the story! There's a major problem with the pacing in this book, mostly because (1) there's not a lot to the plot to begin with and (2) Caprara spends 3/4 of the tale explaining the hows and whys of Zella's prank and only 1/4 on how she makes restitution and changes in the process. Because the prank is only about Zella's selfish desires for popularity and attention, I didn't care about it at all. I got tired of reading about it very quickly, which made most of the book a slog. Plus, there's a ton of superfluous details and scenes that throw in unneeded perspectives without really adding anything to the story. All of these things combine to make the majority of THE RIPPLE EFFECT feel long and dull. I can't see middle graders sticking this one out. There's little here to keep them turning pages.

On the plus side, Zella is a likeable (if annoying) character who's enthusiastic, clever and hard-working. Her friends and family members are likewise appealing. Zella's ripple effect idea is an inspiring one and I enjoyed seeing how it brought her town together. Through her experiences, our heroine learns important lessons about friendship, selflessness, and community. I liked those aspects of the story.

If this were a movie, it would be rated: G

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have ever thought that sixth graders were simply young kids, you need to read this book to have a deeper idea of how varied they can be, with dreams and hidden struggles and thoughtfulness you may not have imagined. Rebecca Caprara lets Zella Trudi tell the tale much of the time, but her friends and a few other kids have their own parts in this end-of-the-year tale of the best ending! Zella is focused on what is called the sixth-grade prank, wanting to top all of her other ideas. She's a joke-teller, witty, though sometimes her jokes aren't as funny as she thinks they are. When she and her best friends, Janea, a fashion creator, and Bowie, a piano player, come up with a super prank idea when they visit a museum, it works until Zella adds one more thing, not a topper, but a disaster. It's longer than other mid-grade books, but full of these three who have their own family troubles, and others who also need a bit of kindness and help. They all seem to want to keep everything secret but finally, when they reach out, good things happen. After the disaster, Zella is given a challenge by her principal. You'll see the most endearing fun after she at last realizes the best idea is one that ripples!
Thanks to Charlesbridge for my copy!

[Jessica Karen]

ARC from Netgalley

Looking to settle down with a fun Children's Fiction read? Pick The Ripple Effect by Rebecca Caprara for unlimited fun that also tickles your little grey cells.

The story centers around Marzella Trudi, better known to us as Zella, and her antics that seem to have given her quite the reputation. At the cusp of heading to middle school, she wants to leave her mark before she leaves sixth grade. With the help of her two best friends, Bowie and Janea, she prepares to go out with a bang and ace the school-sanctioned prank.

What happens next? Is the prank a success? These questions form the remainder of the story.

The multiple perspectives of the children in the story make for lovely reading. There's also the town of Kettleby voicing its thoughts. From the struggles of a single parent (Zella's mom) to the issues faced by Alzheimer patients and a plethora of socially relevant themes, the book is a reminder of why the Ripple Effect matters, especially in today's times!

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Ripple Effect is a sweet story featuring Zella, the ultimate prankster and class clown. It started out a bit slow for my taste, but by the second half, I could barely put the book down and finished it all in one sitting.

The story is told in a smattering of alternating perspectives, which I think will appeal to some of my students who want to be reading longer books even though they enjoy the bursts of short stories; you get a slightly different take on the plot with each chapter and can combine them in your head to get the complete story.

Zella and her friends seem like they would fit right in with the kids in my school. Though, thankfully, pranks aren’t a thing for us - hopefully my kids will be inspired by the end of the story rather than the beginning!

I’d recommend this book to middle school and upper elementary students who like realistic fiction, humor, and friendship.

(I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley).

[Karol Silverstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending of this book is ultimately really lovely, if a bit predictable. It's a long slow crawl getting there though. I read an ARC so perhaps some tightening has occurred in the finished book?

As much as I liked Zella (and her friends, Janea and Bowie), she struck me as a bit unremarkable. She's possibly the least interesting character. That said, I loved her relationship with Pops (her grandfather) and connection to the creek. (Wish there had been more of that and it was fairly obvious that Pops would be at the creek when he wandered off.) The family-run ice cream parlor was a hoot, and I also liked the multi-POV approach, with even the small town of Kettleby getting chapters. That was a clever way to introduce all the town folk, who all play a role in Zella's Ripple Effect project in the last quarter of the book.

There's much to enjoy here, but the book strikes me as a very "safe," somewhat "ho-hum" read.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ripple Effect offers a sweet and thoughtful look at second chances. Zella wants to be known for pulling off the best prank in 6th grade. When that prank ends up going sideways Zella has to decide how to make it right with her classmates. The Ripple Effect shows us that friendship and small acts of kindness can change not only one heart, but a whole community's.

I really loved Zella's character. She is spunky, distracted, overzealous and fun, with a good heart.

This book was on the longer side with maybe one too many point of views. But the ending saved this book from being a 3 start to a 4 star.

Topics include - friendship, a grandparent with dementia, a character with neurodiversity, family, popularity, community, and second chances.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this eARC. All thoughts and opinions are of my own.

[Esperancita 💜 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story reminded me of my first years in school and in general of my childhood, since at one point in my life being the class clown, although it was not what defined me as a student, it was something that in a way marked a bit of my personality in class.

Although it wasn't me at all times, we all had that clown classmate for whom we were punished at some point, even though their intention was just to amuse and draw attention to themselves.

I saw many of them reflected in Zella and the way being singled out as the one to blame for an important moment to fail fell on her shoulders.

Was a nice trip back to moments in my childhood this read and one that made me remember things I had already lost from my memory.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC.

[fede ૮ ․ ․ ྀིა]

⟢ DNF 63% ✮⋆˙

i have tried to pick up this book many times over the past few months. although the premise sounded right up my alley (i love middle-grades and i enjoy stories centered around friendship and forgiving yourself), once i started reading i felt the pacing was too slow, the prank mentioned in the blurb only happened after the 50% mark, why did it take so long? there were many POVs to keep track of and i don't know what some of them added to the story. i would have loved for the book to be shorter and more focused on zella. overall, this was not enjoyable for me and that's why, in the end, i decided to DNF it and let it be.

Arc given by the publisher. All opinions are my own.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zella is the class clown, and it’s a yearly tradition for the 6th graders to pull a prank. Zella enlists the help of her classmates when she comes up with an idea. What the others don’t know is that Zella has a bonus prank they don’t know about. When the bonus prank goes wrong, Zella is told it was dangerous. Because of the prank, the class now cannot go on their beach field trip. The principal tells Zella he will give her a second chance to redeem herself and leave the school better than she found it. How she does it is up to her. Does Zella come up with an idea that makes the principal happy?
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Lauren Bayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very cute story with a wonderful message of kindness. Perfect for young fans of the narration style of Linked, as the entire town gets to live through short snippets, but spearheaded by Zella, who has exuberance, spunk, and heart. Though she is often misguided, she will be very relatable to young readers in her desire to make people laugh.

Only note was that it was pretty long, so that might be off-putting to some readers. It took a while to get to the message of kindness and to get to the prank gone wrong, which was in the description and in a lot of the marketing for this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Charlesbridge for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

[Vikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I really liked this book. The character of Zella provided lots of humour and quirkiness. Lots of funny moments throughout but also some really touching scenes. The ending was top tier for me.

I didn’t think the multiple POVs from all different characters was necessarily needed. I would’ve been fine with just reading Zella’s POV. It was also a touch too long, with the main event of the prank not happening until well into the book.

For that reason, it’s a 4 star for me. The message of this book is beautiful and I’d recommend to young readers everywhere.

[Suzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zella is a great character, but has an overactive imagination when trying to plan her class prank. I felt that this book was kind of long for a middle grade book. But I did like all the characters and the families. I liked learning about this small town and the descriptions of it. I felt like I was there with these characters. I liked the ice cream shop too and how hard Zella's grandparents had worked to open it and make it a town staple.
I really enjoyed the last few chapters, when the "ripple effect" comes into play. That made my heart so happy.

[Lisa Roppel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ripple Effect is a perfect story for a Grade 5-8 student. It involves an ice cream shop, a school prank and all of the real life issues of this age. I really connected with the characters and the story as it was perfectly relatable. This is a perfect novel for a public, school or personal library.

Thank you NetGalley, Rebecca Caprara and Charlesbridge for the opportunity to preview this title. The opinions expressed are my own.

This title is expected to be released Feb. 18, 2025.

[MG · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a solid middle grade novel with a good message that I think I would've enjoyed a lot more when I was younger. That's not to say that it was an unpleasant reading experience now by any means. I just think it would've worked better for me when I was in the target demographic. That said, it was a sweet, reasonably realistic story overall.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this story that feels both like an updated Pollyanna and something entirely fresh and contemporary. A class clown makes a mistake, causing chaos for her class, and sets our to make amends, causing a ripple effect of events in her small town. This is a big book about how small gestures can lead to great things.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cozy middle-grade read, complete with a warm and fuzzy ending, but it does drag sometimes. Zella is a lot of fun, but we often jump to other characters and scenes that don't add anything other than page count.
Thank you for the ARC!

[Jessica Lerbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet; lots of lessons learned

[Brittany Lange · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I’m a teacher and I’m always looking for new books to recommend to my students. I was excited to give this one a try.

I enjoyed the multiple viewpoints and life situations the various characters were in. I believe it will be relatable to young readers.

I really enjoyed the “Ripple Effect” and the lesson it teaches about spreading kindness and helping others.

The book was a bit long and slow in places, but overall an enjoyable read.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Zella lives in Kettleby, a small New England town, with her mother and grandfather. Her grandmother, who started Trudi's Treats, the ice cream shop the family lives above, has passed away, and her grandfather is struggling with vascular dementia after a stroke. Zella is in 6th grade, and as the end of the year approaches, is obsessed with masterminding the greatest prank the school has ever known. It's a tradition, and while there are rules, the administration is okay with it. Zella walks to school with her friend Janae, who is interested in posting her fashion creations on ClicqueClok, and Bowiw, who is struggling a bit since his parents' divorce. The other students are as excited about the prank as they are about the class trip to Bayborough Beach, except for the new kid, Declan. Declan seems to be planning something, which irritates Zella, since he's also a social media sensation with his gaming and Zella is struggling to come up with ideas. We also meet Shelby, an aspiring investigative journalist a year younger than Zella, who wants the scoop on whatever goes on. The chapters are headed with the name of the person from whose perspective the story is told; we even get the views of the town sometimes! Things are rough at home for Zella, since the ice cream store isn't doing well financially, and her mother is very harried trying to run it while keeping the grandfather safe. Zella eventually figures out that the class prank could be a spin on yarn bombing after she meets a woman who is involved in Fiber Riot, and it's also a good way to use some of her grandmother's yarn. It also makes sense and is a little philosophical, because the school mascot is the spindle, since the town had been home to a sock factory. Zella manages to get a lot more supplies, including scarves and sweaters to use in the yarn installation in the school. She tries to follow the rules and stay safe, but does use the sculpture of a spindle, of which the principal is very proud, in the installation. The day of the prank starts off with the front door being inaccessible because a storm has felled a tree in front of it, but the prank goes well... until the principal pulls the rope that Zella added without her classmates knowing. A banner unfurls, but is unstable, and ends up damaging the spindle and a showcase, and one of the teachers is showered with a bucket of glitter. The principal says that the class trip to the beach will be canceled unless someone owns up to the damage. Zella does, and the principal makes her a deal; the prank tradition started as more of a community service project but has gone awry, and if Zella can pull off a service project, the class can go. After Zella's grandfather wanders off in the rain and Shelby helps her find him and bring him home, Zella gives Shelby two ice cream gift certificates. Shelby, in turn, gives them to two other people, giving Zella the idea of the "ripple effect" project that spreads joy around the town and even helps the family business.
Strengths: Zella is an exuberant but misguided middle school student who is concerned about her legacy and her reputation with her classmates, but doesn't pay attention to her friends as closely as she should. This is very realistic. Everyone in the book has problems of some sort; Declan's sister is in the hospital, Bowie has to travel between households, and even grocery store owner Ruby struggles with her store on delivery days. This makes the town ripe for Zella's plan, and even helps her mother's business by cleaning up a nearby abandoned lot. The yarn bombing was intriguing, and the link to the town's industrial past was informative. There are lots of good details about what it is like to run an ice cream shop, and good descriptions of the flavors!
Weaknesses: This was on the long side (400 pages) and had a lot going on. Also, I found it hard to believe that any school administration would condone a prank of any kind, or allow the trip to continue when the money clearly needed to be spent on replacing the showcase that was broken. (Even small ones would run $3,000.) I can't imagine the custodians were pleased with the clean up.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers want to make the world a better place and enjoyed Hurwitz's The Summer I Saved the World-- in 65 days or Shienmel's The Kindness Club series.

6/6/25- Saw this one on the shelf at the public library, and the print copy is MASSIVE. I didn't look at the size of the font, but it looks like one really long 400 page book.