What would you do if you won a million dollars from a national cooking contest?
Intellectual twelve-year-old GiGi is not real impressed by her hairdresser big sister DiDi’s choice of living the same modest lifestyle – not even buying a new car!
However, DiDi does move them out of the trailer park of South Carolina and into a little apartment in the North Shore of Long Island, enrolling GiGi in a fancy school to better her academic gifts.
That’s all fine and good, but GiGi feels that a change should mean things actually change – so she decides that she is going to try and make friends, let herself indulge in a crush and try to do more “normal” things than studying 24/7.
Yet, GiGi’s changes seem to be putting a strain on her relationship with DiDi – something they’ve never had, like this, before – and leads GiGi to a road full of unexpected family secrets that could change everything…
The Truth About Twinkie Pie was a poignant, memorable, character driven novel that exceeded my expectations!
Happily, GiGi is not a brat – you can understand and empathize with her, even as she is inadvertently selfish and hurts DiDi. It’s that painful recognition of the family dynamic – hurting the ones we love – and growing pains.
Truly, The Truth About Twinkie Pie overcomes most clichés and brings dimensions to the secondary characters while also making the main characters absolutely relatable in both the best and worst ways. They feel like genuine people, which is so important to me when reading a novel.
At times, The Truth About Twinkie Pie is agonizing – the mistakes of youth can be doozies – yet it is also extremely heartfelt and lovely. This is a book about family – and friends – and, really, that first step toward growing up.
Though I guessed one of the twists, I did not guess the ultimate one. Either way, though, the presentation of the narration and dialogue in these situations was so unaffected and sincere that whether or not you see the revelation coming has little to do with the eventual emotional punch.
Plus, on top of all this goodness, The Truth About Twinkie Pie made me very, very hungry! Filled with unique, delicious-sounding recipes of sweet concoctions, this is a book better not read on an empty stomach!
I will keep my eyes open for more books by Kat Yeh, for sure.
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