(Adolescent Fiction for Girls)
The Sweetest Thing is one sweet read--akin to chocolate in that it is both sweet, yet bitter; loving, yet biting; nourishing, yet heartbreaking. This is one book that has it all.Sheridan (a teenager with wisdom and guts beyond her years) lives in Michigan and runs her own cake-decorating business. Her mother abandoned Sheridan and her father when she was young and decorating cakes is the only connection they have left. She pours her heart and soul into everything she makes, hoping her mother might just show back up and appreciate the bond they once shared. Sheridan has been secretly trying to find her mother for years and is determined to bring her family back together through sheer force of will.
Her dad just got his own reality TV cooking show and wants to move them to New York. That would mean Sheridan's mother wouldn't know where to find her plus she would lose her best friend AND the hottest guy in school who just might have a crush on her. Pretty much everything in Sheridan's life comes to a head and it seems as if nothing is going right. Haven't we all had times like this?
I absolutely loved this book. The characters are so real I am sure they must actually exist somewhere. I wish they did-I would love to call Sheridan up and either hug her or kick her or maybe just give her some strong advice. Either choice, she is a character I WISH was real because she's a person I would really like to know and one I am adding to my literary BFF list (right behind Anne of Green Gables and Pippi Longstockings). I love female characters with some chutzpah and this girl has plenty. She isn't afraid to tackle the big issues and isn't going to give up her dream, no matter how hopeless.
The book was both funny and sad and stubborn. The heartbreak throughout was so real it jumps off the page. By the end of the book, I just sat and cried.....and cried.....and cried. One I would recommend to any adolescent reader out there-it is Chic-Lit at its very best. A great read, a great cry. Thank you, Ms. Mandelski. I hope you have many more up your sleeve.
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