With the Fire on High

 With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo, 395 pages.

High school senior Emoni Santiago has what feels like an impossible amount on her plate. She has a daughter to raise, a grandmother to support, and no idea what she's going to do with her life after high school. The only things on her plate that don't stress her is the actual food. Emoni is magical in the kitchen, with an instinctual understanding for what goes together and a gift for making people feel things with her food. A culinary arts program at her school (complete with a trip to Spain) could be completely life-changing for her, but can she afford to care about what she wants with so many people depending on her?

This book by the same author as The Poet X had many of the same things I loved about that book. In some ways they are similar books, with Afro-Caribbean protagonist dealing with complex family relationships that are still very rooted in love, but they are also different enough characters and problems that it didn't feel like reading the same book again. Emoni's problems feel very real, and it would be hard not to get deeply invested in her. The imagery in this book is vibrant, and the voice is deeply engaging. This was probably further strengthened by the fact that I listened to the audiobook, which is narrated by the author and helps Emoni feel very real. This is an excellent young adult novel, I would recommend it widely, but especially to teens.