Cracks in the Cone

Sprinkle Sundays #2

by Coco Simon

Allie must find a balance between being a boss and being a friend in this second delicious book in the Sprinkle Sundays series from the author of the Cupcake Diaries series! Now that the girls all work at the ice cream shop on Sundays, Allie sees her friends' jobs through a different lens. If they mess up the cash register by a few dollars Tamiko simply shrugs, but Allie knows that by the end of the week all those little misses can add up. She doesn't want to be their boss, but somehow she needs to figure out a way to make sure she's part of a team that can see things from her perspective, too. She just has to do it before the cracks in the cone melt their friendship.

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Middle Grade

160 pages, Library Binding

Published May 1, 2018

About the author

Coco Simon always dreamed of opening a cupcake bakery, but she’s afraid she would eat all the profits. When she’s not daydreaming about cupcakes, Coco edits children’s books and has written close to 100 books for children, tweens, and young adults, which is a lot less than the number of cupcakes she’s eaten. Cupcake Diaries is the first time Coco has mixed her love of cupcakes with writing.

Reviews

[William Emery · Rating 5 out of 5]

An elegant proto-allegorical Bildungsroman that confronts issues ranging from the pressure to convert creativity into capital in the petite bourgeoisie to the implications of social media for adolescents entering their tumultuous teen years. Like its forerunner “To Kill A Mockingbird”, “Sprinkle Sundays: Cracks in the Cone” speaks wisdom through the mouths of babes. This reader hopes that a future book in the series will see Tamiko install a taiyaki maker in the shop.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

First sentence: My best friend Allie squeezed my hand. "Happy Sprinkle Sunday," she whispered to me. Then she whispered the same thing into our other best friend Sierra's ear.

Premise/plot: Cracks in the Cone is the second book in the Sprinkle Sunday series. In the first book, Allie's parents get divorced. Allie moves with her mom and brother to a nearby town. She misses her best friends Tamiko and Sierra very much. Fortunately, these three friends find a way to be together each and every week. Tamiko and Sierra are hired by Allie's mom to work in her new ice cream shop. The second book, Cracks in the Cone, is narrated by Tamiko. At first Tamiko is super-super excited at the idea of having a job. But she learns that having a job means actually working and that actually working means working hard even when it's not fun at all. Will Tamiko quit when the going gets tough? Or will Sierra and Allie talk her into staying?

My thoughts: I like this series. I do. It's the kind of series that I probably would have loved, loved, loved growing up. I like the themes of friendship and family that are strong in both books. Tamiko is a bit naive thinking that her ideas should automatically be put into practice in a new business--or an old business for that matter. But I'm happy to overlook that because the series is enjoyable.

I will happily keep reading as the library gets new books.

[Yapha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun second book in the Sprinkle Sundays series. Better to read in order. Recommended for grades 3 & up.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

life lessons

This was pretty decent. As an Asian American myself it was fun to read about a fellow Asian American growing up.

There were some parts I could have done without but overall it was decent. I liked that she learned about the importance of responsibility and making sure to get her job done first and then do the extra stuff outside of work, not during it. She learned about the importance of friendship and how it counts for more than the bad times. Her brother was awesome too. I like when siblings get along. My sister and I never fought growing up and I still have difficulty understanding why my kids fight all the time… it baffles me since we didn’t do it so I’m glad to read that we probably aren’t the only ones!

[Elyse · Rating 5 out of 5]

My nine year old and I are reading this series and we love it! Great plots and insight into the thoughts/ feelings of kids. We were delighted to discover there are 10 in the series instead of 3 (our original belief).

[Katelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tamiko, the more creative friend, can't wait to show Allie and her mom new ideas for the ice cream shop. Although Allie has moved one town away, the girls find ways to make it work.

[Mia · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO GOOD, love Coco Simon, I get Ally and Sierra AND pretty much ALL the characters because they're so relatable. Please read this series, please read all of the Coco Simon books, period.

[Low Guang]

a fun and nice read. good book for kids.

[Dori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this. Quick read. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

[Amy]

I wouldn't recommend this for younger readers. One of the side characters tells the girl main character that her and another character would support the MC whoever she likes whether they were a boy or girl.

[fraise ❤︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tamiko is such an artistic girl and I loved it.
So young to be not mature ,, and perfect to make troubles all day !! But so what? Its okay we are just little ones and learning everyday …