Apple Pie Promises: A Swirl Novel

by Hillary Homzie

Overview

Lily has lived with her mom since her parents got divorced several years ago, and her dad has recently remarried to a woman with a daughter her age named Hannah. But now, Lily's mom has gotten a once-in-a-lifetime work opportunity in Africa and she'll be gone for a year, so Lily is moving in with her dad—and new stepmom and new stepsister. It'll be as easy as apple pie, right?
Wrong. Lily promises her dad that she'll try to get along with everyone, but she is not happy about it. Her stepmom is nice, but she's no replacement for her real mom, and Lily feels like she barely gets any one-on-one time with her dad anymore.
The real problem, though, is Hannah. What starts out as tension between the new stepsisters becomes a full-on war, both at home and at school. Harmless pranks turn into total sabotage. Can Lily survive the year—or is her family fractured beyond repair?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781510739246
Publisher:	Sky Pony
Publication date:	10/02/2018
Series:	Swirl , #5
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Hillary Homzie is the author of tween novels Pumpkin Spice Secrets, Queen of Likes, The Hot List, and Things Are Gonna Get Ugly, as well as the comedic chapter book series Alien Clones From Outer Space. During the summers, Hillary teaches in the graduate program in children’s writing at Hollins University. A former sketch comedy performer in NYC, Hillary currently lives with her family in Northern California.
Hillary Homzie is the author of the tween novels Queen of Likes, The Hot List, and Things Are Gonna Get Ugly, as well as the comedic chapter book series Alien Clones From Outer Space, which is being made into an animated television series. During the summers, Hillary teaches in the graduate program in children's writing at Hollins University. A former sketch comedy performer in NYC, Hillary currently lives with her family in Northern California.

Editorial Reviews

In this delicious read by Hillary Homzie, you’ll explore the trails and triumphs of step-sibling relationships, rollercoaster romantic relationships tween style, and virtual cross-cultural trip to Morocco as young Lily learns what it means to live like the mountain is out! I picked it up and couldn’t put it down until I read the very last word!” —A. LaFaye, award-winning author of Worth and Water Steps

"A sweet and savory blend of family and friendship, Apple Pie Promises delivers the perfect recipe for a delectable middle-grade read.” — Melissa Roske, author of Kat Greene Comes Clean

Praise for Pumpkin Spice Secrets:
"No one understands the tangled emotions of middle-school crushes better than Hillary Homzie. I have a serious crush on Pumpkin Spice Secrets!" — Claudia Mills, author of Zero Tolerance and Write This Down
"Sweet, smart, and entertaining, Pumpkin Spice Secrets is sure to appeal to tween readers!" — Barbara Dee, author of Star-Crossed and Halfway Normal
"Homzie laces key ingredients in her latest middle school story: empathy topped with a froth of fun!” — Candice Ransom, author of Rebel McKenzie
"[F]rothy and sweet enough that tween readers will drink it right up." — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

2018-08-14

Lily has big plans for this year's fall festival: She and her mother are going to bake the wining pie together.

But then Mom announces she's moving to Morocco for a year on a fellowship, and Lily is going to live with her father and his new family. Lily's not looking forward to it, but at least she doesn't have to change schools and she can still enter the pie contest. Stepmom Kimberly is welcoming, but stepsister Hannah? Not so much. She's cold and standoffish and a bit full of herself. To add to the tension, the girls have to share a room. Their living styles aren't exactly compatible: Lily is a tidy, organized planner, and Hannah…is not. But Lily has promised Mom she'll do her best to get along with Hannah. Unfortunately, Hannah has other plans, and soon the girls are pranking each other back and forth, often with real consequences. Can the girls end this prank war before someone really gets hurt? Readers will note some bumpy plot points, such as Lily's surprise when Hannah retaliates and that Dad and Kimberly are so wrapped up in their own problems, they don't notice their daughters aren't as sisterly as they'd hoped they'd be. Seventh-grader Lily narrates in an exposition-heavy first-person perspective loaded with exclamations and interrobangs. Lily is multiracial and presents white: white on her father's side and with a Moroccan great-grandfather on her mother's. Lily's possible crush is biracial, the son of a Vietnamese-American father and Swedish mother. Several other characters of color are suggested by naming convention.

Uneven and unsubtle—but sweet. (Fiction. 8-13)

Kirkus Reviews