Alexis and the Perfect Recipe: The Graphic Novel

Cupcake Diaries Graphic Novels #4

by Coco Simon

The bestselling Cupcake Diaries series is now available in graphic novel format! In this adaptation of the fourth book, Alexis struggles to fit the messiness of a crush in with her orderly lifestyle.

Alexis Becker is by far the most prepared, exact, and organized Cupcake Club member, which is why she’s in charge of the business end of the club. But when she suddenly develops a major crush on Matt Taylor—her BFF Emma’s brother—things get a little disorganized. Alexis decides to figure her way around this strange new feeling the way she figures out everything by conducting research, collecting data, and setting a goal. Is there a perfect recipe for love? Alexis is ready to find out!

Fun, bright, full-color graphic panels tell the story with the same humor and heart as the original novel.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Middle Grade, Food, Romance

160 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 27, 2023

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

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m totally regretting never reading this series as a kid because I am loving this graphic novel adaptation series! It’s like the BSC but with cupcakes! This one was really cute and relatable. I liked that Alexis’s parents were present and involved which was a refreshing change from a lot of MG and YA novels. This series is so cute. I can’t wait for the next one to come out!!!

[Sakura · Rating 3 out of 5]

So far, this series has been a total comfort read for me. It’s cute, fun, and overall just super light. The one thing I’ve never been super keen on is the art style- it is a little plain for my taste, and never seems to try very hard with poses or interest. It’s been the same artist every book though, and I’ve made it this far- so rather than talking about the art style, let’s talk about the plot!

This book focuses on Alexis, a smart, math savvy young girl with a passion for baking cupcakes. I do want to start by saying Alexis is my least favorite of the main cast, so that does play a part in how I felt about this book- but anyways, the book opens with Alexis eavesdropping on her Mom and older sister, Dylan, discussing who will be in charge of Dylan’s birthday cupcakes. I was surprised to see Alexis just lying on the floor, listening in, but it quickly made a lot more sense then it did at first glance- Alexis’ mother is trying to convince Dylan that rather then hiring professionals to make her dessert, she should hire the Cupcake Club instead. Dylan gives in VERY begrudgingly, and now, it’s up to Alexis and her friends to make the birthday cupcakes! Alexis texts the other members of the club, quietly keeping a secret, strange feeling in her heart,
She has her first crush.

The subject of said crush just happens to be her best friend Emma’s brother, Matt! In the last volume, there was a scene of her blushing at him. I wondered if she had feelings for him, and I was right! She kind of wants to ignore the feelings, but at the same time, keeps giving in to them. While she’s taking notes for the Cupcake Club, she finds herself preoccupied with these feelings, writing things about Matt instead! It doesn’t help that the girls have been watching dance shows on TV, and hear all about dating and romance rumors. Realizing this has become a problem, Alexis decides to solve it the way she does best….She turns it into an equation! If Matt checks off all the things on her list, he must like her back.

However, things only get more and more complicated!! Dylan is NOT an easy customer to work with- she’s not happy with anything the girls come up with, and tries to control every single thing about her party- even what Alexis wears! Alexis hates the black dress she picked out and decides to go with a pink one instead- and this results in an outburst from Dylan!! Alexis seems very overwhelmed with everything at this point- and her crush is only making it harder! Worse yet, does Callie like him too?! (I was happy to see Callie again. I read the novels when I was little, but I can’t remember if Katie and her ever make up. I hope they do though, beucase I like Callie.) Alexis has even started to wear makeup for him… is it too much?

After a talking to from their parents, Dylan does settle down a bit more, and learns about Alexis’ feelings for Matt. She decides to try and help her out- the right way. Here you start to wonder if Dylan is really as bad as she seems- and you finally learn what’s been bothering her. A boy she likes hasn’t RSVP’d, and her party is almost here. She wanted her Sweet 16 to be a place where he could confess to her, but it seems like he doesn’t care about her at all. She’s stressed and upset, and you can understand why she feels this way.

Alexis has, however, come to some sort of conclusion! It doesn’t solve everything, but maybe, if she could get a dance with Matt at the party, she could figure out what to do with these feelings. Making that her goal, she moves along with life…. Until Emma figures out she’s crushing on Matt! Word soon gets out to the other girls, and although Emma is a little grossed out, they all still support her in her quest.

After picking out the perfect cupcakes for Dylan’s party, we’ve almost reached the end of the story! All of Emma’s family shows up at the Sweet 16- including Matt. With a little help from her friends, Alexis snags the dance- and we literally have one page left before it ends. Her sister asks her how she feels about Matt, and Alexis replies that she doesn’t really know. This is one of the main things that really set the bar down for me and caused me to give this installment only 3 stars- I don’t like the way it tries to wrap up her crush. Now, I totally understand that young love can be very, very short lived. I once had a crush on a boy for a day, ahaha. But… it’s weird. Alexis gets what she wants, then thinks to herself ‘I just want to think about cupcakes now!’ Even though some people might find this realistic and cute, it made me feel like I read an entire book, only to be told at the end that the protagonist doesn’t really care how she feels anymore or what happens because the book is ending!! It just made me feel very unfulfilled. It’s okay to get over crushes and all, but this book just makes it all feel like a waste.

Overall, the book is still cute, with very fluffy romance. Kids will probably really enjoy it, and it’s worth it to pick this up if you just want a quick, simple read. Being the weakest of this series so far isn’t the end of the word, and I hope the next book will be an improvement.

(This book contains VERY innocent romance. Some dancing with boys, and a 16 year old gets a kiss on the cheek. There’s also a scene where Dylan tells Alexis about flirting to get a boy- or girl, if that’s what she wants. It’s never brought up again, but some parents might not want to let their kids get exposed to that. I would give it an age rating of all-ages.)

[Fiona · Rating 3 out of 5]

My kid asked me to read it.

[Cadee · Rating 5 out of 5]

"[The book] was good but there was a lot of drama about the party. I liked the cupcakes. They looked really cool. I would definitely recommend this book." -Cadee, age 11

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alexis has just realized she has a little crush on Matt. She's trying to figure out if he likes her back and if so what to do with this information. But she can't focus too much on that, her sister Dylan's 16th birthday party is coming up and the Cupcake Club needs to come up with cupcakes that will satisfy the very demanding almost 16 year old. Dylan has turned into a partyzilla and the family is going a little crazy trying to keep her happy BUT keep things reasonable, and not go insane.

Alexis gets some good advice about her crush (particularly her sister asking her what the goal is of determining if Matt likes her, and that they should be able to be friends/have common interests) and comes to a very reasonable conclusion by the end of the book (especially for her age). Matt is Emma's sister so she and Alexis have to work through the whole liking a sibling thing. I like how Alexis and Dylan's parents handle the whole thing and remind Dylan to not sacrifice being nice to people in her quest for the perfect party. They are firm but loving and set good boundaries. Yay for solid literary parents! Hand this to middle schoolers who love contemporary fiction graphic novels.

Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: Nothing beyond dancing with someone and talking about crushes.
Violence: None
Ethnic diversity: Mia is from a Latinx family. The other girls are all White Americans.
LGBTQ+ content: When Dylan talks to Alexis about crushes she mentions the possibility of girls or guys liking Alexis (it's super fast and is not lingered on).
Other: Some sibling rivalry/disagreements but those have good resolutions. Dylan is not nice for a while. She does apologize eventually.

[💙tessa (jeremy jordan’s version)💛 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just randomly picked this book up having only read the first one lol

it was really cute! a really good elementary or mg graphic novel. i loved the art style and how so inclusive it was like dylan saying “or girl, if that’s what you want” to alexis. it did an amazing job getting the message across of not needing to change for anyone and feeling confident about yourself.

towards the end, alexis and dylan are really sweet with each other even though they went through a lot of arguments. i really like how it demonstrates that there will always be some conflict but if you truly care about each other you’ll find a way to push through.

i would recommend for any young kid to read :)

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I am enjoying this series. In this one, Alexis has a crush on Emma's brother Matt. She wants to be at her house all the time because of him, etc. They're doing cupcakes for Alexis' sister's birthday party and she's been a monster about it. The sisters work it out, but Emma and she have tiffs over Matt. In the end, Matt asks her to dance at the birthday party (thus achieving success in her mind) and she realizes he's not worth ruining her friendship and that crushes are kind of silly.

[B.D · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5🌟
This book gave me a lot of nostalgia to when I was younger and I read these as chapter books. It was pretty predicate and although the art was pretty, the characters looked way younger than they actually were. Additionally, I found our main character annoying at times. Other than that though, I enjoyed it. It made me very hungry but in a good way. In the end, a decent read for ages 9 and up.

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think its my favourite but I like how Emma supports Alexis with her crush on Matt but later realises that Alexis is like only focused on Matt but I LOVED Dylan's "Sweet 16th Party" it is probably my 3rd favourite out of the 4 books.

[Mara K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

felt kind of weird. there was one scene where one person talked and the speech bubble moved to another character in the next box, but it was like she was finishing the sentence. what's up with that?
it wasn't horrible though

[Fatima · Rating 3 out of 5]

The flow of this one wasn't as easy as the other three in my opinion.

[PottWab Regional Library]

SM

[KaitandMaddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kait’s really enjoying this series.

[Jess]

A carbon copy of Babysitters Club except less good.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I very recently reread the novel version, so I noticed that there were a few minor differences in the story. When Alexis and her friends are in the cafeteria, the details about her bringing up summer plans and what Matt said to her were different from the book. Also, at Dylan’s party, Sydney and Callie came with Sydney being the DJ’s cousin, while in the book, they were actually crashing and knew about the party because of Callie’s sister, Jenna. I do like the art, but I think that the PGC girls should have more flashy outfits/accessories to go with that component of their characters.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this fourth and final installment of the Cupcake Diaries graphic novel series, math-minded Alexis gets a bit boy crazy as she swoons over Emma’s big brother Matt. On one hand, the book accurately captures the obsessive and overly analytical musings of a first crush. On the other hand, I cringe throughout most of this book and felt it was a bit of a departure from the other books, making it my least favorite.

[Annora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Granted, I am not the target audience by a couple of decades. But I find comfort in this level of reading.

I find these kind of plots absolutely insufferable. Crush on friend’s sibling, friendship drama, then everyone makes up. That trope can go away.

[Ree P · Rating 2 out of 5]

didn't really want to say anything about the bad art (like AI bad) in the other books, but this one takes the cake. some of the bg characters are drawn in almost a racist way??? and the art is just poor.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute, but very, very basic. I feel like this series really lacks heart; the story is there, the artwork is nice, the colours are vibrant, but it almost feels like it was made with AI. I enjoyed it, sure, but it just felt like it was ticking off boxes.

[R · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another fun story! I love that we get to see perspectives from each girl's home life.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for a class. Enjoyed!

[Diana Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it and would recommend this series to middle grade readers who like graphic novels.

Good family dynamics represented and positive outcomes for all.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another cute installation of the series. Captures the awkwardness and the fight that comes with crushing on your friend's sibling.

[Aseel Hadiah ౨ৎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i liked the book it was quick and nice