Awards and Honors<i>Publishers Weekly</i> Best Books - 2019 <br>
<i>Horn Book</i> Fanfare - 2019 <br>
NPR’s Book Concierge - 2019 <br>
<i>SLJ</i> Best Books - 2019 <br>
2019 Goodreads Choice Award Finalist <br>
CPL Best Books - 2019 <br>
The Walter Award Honoree Teen Category - 2020 <br>
<i>Georgia Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl</i> High School 2020-2021
With her daughter to care for and her abuela to help support, high school senior Emoni Santiago has to make the tough decisions and do what must be done. The one place she can let her responsibilities go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness. Still, she doesn’t have enough time for her school’s new culinary arts class, doesn’t have the money for their trip to Spain—and certainly can’t follow her dreams of working in a real kitchen someday. But even with all the rules she has for her life—and all the rules everyone expects her to play by—once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free.
These exciting, age-appropriate fiction and nonfiction titles will appeal to even the most reluctant high-school readers. With that kind of appeal, the 14 books in this category will rarely sit on the shelf.
Discrimination: Racial Insensitivity/Racism,Language: Racial or Ethnic Epithet/Slur,Language: Strong Language,Sexual Content: Mild Sexual Content/Themes,Violence: General
Crime: Stalking,Discrimination: Racial Insensitivity/Racism,Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco: Drug Use/Abuse,Drugs/Alcohol/Tobacco: Underage Use,Language: Strong Language,Sexual Content: Contact Between Adult and Minor,Violence: Domestic/Physical Abuse,Violence: Sexual Assault/Rape