With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
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 knows she doesn’t have enough time for her school’s new culinary arts class, doesn’t have the money for the class’s trip to Spain — and shouldn’t still be dreaming of someday working in a real kitchen. 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 real choice is to let her talent break free.
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Goodreads • The Book Depository
Trigger & Content Warnings:
- Alcohol consumption
- Childbirth mentioned
- Colourism
- Coming out themes recounted (sc)
- Bullying recounted
- Death of a mother recounted
- Death of a husband recounted
- Death of a grandfather recounted
- Dubious consent scene discussed
- G slur
- Hurricanes & storms discussed
- Racism
- Sexist comments
- Sexual harassment recounted
- Teen pregnancy & motherhood (central theme)
