The Plot: Julie Sternberg's Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake (2014) is the third book in her verse novel series for children. She previously published Like Pickle Juice on a Cookie (2011) and Like Bug Juice on a Burger (2013) which also follow her fourth-grade protagonist Eleanor. Sternberg's verse novel follows in the footsteps of Sharon Creech's Love That Dog in its focus on younger, elementary school readers. In Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake, Eleanor struggles with feeling left out when her best friend, Pearl, becomes close to a new transfer student, Ainsley. On top of this, Eleanor's parents decide to send her new puppy to training school for two weeks and Pearl volunteer's Eleanor for a role in the school play, despite Eleanor's stage fright. As the narrative progresses, Eleanor becomes more and more anxious about her leading role and her solo, as well as her sense of distance from her best friend. Toward the end of the narrative, Eleanor's feelings lead her to do a "very mean thing. / To a new girl AND / to [her] best friend" (143).The Poetry: As the title suggests, Sternberg's verse novel utilizes similes, as well as anaphora throughout the free verse narrative. This is true in "Chapter Fifteen" which includes the repeated refrain "I wondered" six times throughout the poem (93-94). The use of simile and metaphor are central to the main conflict in the narrative. This comes to the forefront in the poem Eleanor writes to her poem-loving best friend, Pearl asking for forgiveness. She refers to her actions as being the worst thing, like "carrot juice on a cupcake / or a wasp on my pillow / or a dress that's too tight at the neck" (143). This is the extent of poetic device used by the author in the text, which ultimately, like many other verse narratives, makes use of the increased space on the page afforded by verse novel form.
The Page: Sternberg's Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake is divided into thirty chapters and includes sketch-like pencil illustrations by Matthew Cordell throughout. These illustrations are in a similar style to those by Quentin Blake for Roald Dahl's children's novels. As a verse novel for elementary school readers, Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake forefronts the narrative elements instead of the poetic practices; this seemed like a missed opportunity. I would have liked to see the author spend a bit more time focused on the poetic technique, specifically the simile, implied by the title.
I give Sternberg's verse novel three stars.
