From the Desk of Zoe Washington

The motif of baking helps to both establish Zoe’s character and highlight her character development; it also supports the theme of “Proving One’s Capabilities.” For Zoe, baking is more than a diversion or hobby. She envisions herself as a pastry chef when she grows up, and she is happy to attend the internship at Ari’s Cakes for the chance to show her parents that she has a realistic chance at success on Kids Bake Challenge!.

Baking helps the reader recognize Zoe’s character development as the novel progresses; as she pursues an original cupcake idea, it reminds readers that one can hone and redefine one’s identity as one grows. Zoe also tests and rejects different configurations of ingredients, which represents one’s need to persevere and use a variety of tactics to achieve personal success. Zoe’s struggles with distraction at Ari’s and getting “demoted” to folding boxes after she rolls the fondant too thin symbolizes inevitable missteps and failures as one pursues a dream. In conjunction, Zoe’s renewed devotion to learning more about baking evinces her dedication to improvement of skills and talents.

Finally, baking comes to represent the togetherness and teamwork of modern families. Mom asks to bake with Zoe midway through the story, but Zoe tells her no in a dismissive way; at the time Zoe feels frustration because of Mom’s unfair choice to disallow Zoe from making her own choices about Marcus. Once Mom realizes that Marcus will have a role in Zoe’s life and Zoe understands empathetically why Mom made the rules she did, they can mend their relationship, and Zoe happily accepts Mom and Dad’s help late in the story with a batch of her Froot Loop cupcakes.