Booklist Reviews

*Starred Review* Acevedo has done it again: the multi-award-winning author of The Poet X (2018) here delivers perfection, from the cover art featuring a young Afro-Latina woman looking out, her curls picked up in a scarf, and kitchen staples framing her face, to Acevedo's keen, stirring prose that reads like poetry and demands to be read slowly. In a distinct, perceptive, and vulnerable first-person narrative, Emoni, a young single mom being raised by her grandmother while raising her own daughter, relates the story of her last year of high school in vignettes and short chapters, trading off between sharing bits of the story and her musings about her life and her future. Emoni has a gift for cooking, and her food, like magic, conjures emotions in people she shares it with. Her teachers, friends, and family are all ready to support her when the subject of culinary arts schooling comes up, but the one Emoni needs to learn to trust is herself. Acevedo compassionately challenges her readers with a wide variety of topics, including cultural and personal identity and the needs and desires of older women, something that is so often forgotten. Fittingly, for a book so deeply about food, she also includes Emoni's recipes. This sophomore novel is simply stunning. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Acevedo's debut won a National Book Award and the Printz Award and her many fans will be salivating for this superb follow-up. Grades 9-12. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.

BookPage Reviews

With the Fire on High

Still waters run deep in With the Fire on High, the second novel from Elizabeth Acevedo, author of the award-winning The Poet X.

Emoni Santiago, known for her amazing skills in the kitchen, is a senior at her Philadelphia charter school, but her family is closer to the forefront of her mind than classes and college applications. Her 2-year-old daughter, Emma, whom Emoni calls "Babygirl," has just started daycare. Babygirl's father, Tyrone, is sweet to the child, but he's a headache for Emoni. Emoni's own father, Julio, is an activist who couldn't handle single parenthood after Emoni's mother, a black woman from North Carolina, died during childbirth. Now, when Julio visits from Puerto Rico, he leaves without goodbyes. And Emoni's grandmother, 'Buela, keeps having doctor's appointments that she doesn't fully explain. 

But at school, a new guy is testing Emoni's resolve not to deal with pretty boys, and then there's the elective class she's taking a chance on—culinary arts. When Emoni cooks at home, her dishes are inspired and have the power to bring people to tears. (Readers can try out Emoni's dishes for themselves with the many recipes peppered throughout.) But the class assignments feature as much science as they do art, more discipline than creativity, and Emoni isn't the school-achievement type. Plus, she's not sure what to do about the culinary class's study-abroad trip to Spain, which she has no money for. 

Readers will connect with Emoni as she navigates complex relationships, her irritation at being misunderstood and her self-identity with confidence and sass while trying to keep her dreams realistic and motherhood on the front burner. Although not as lyrical as Acevedo's debut, With the Fire on High stands out for its unique, realistic subject matter and memorable characters.

Copyright 2019 BookPage Reviews.

Horn Book Guide Reviews

High school senior Emoni Santiago (an aspiring chef) and her two-year-old daughter live with Emoni's [cf2]abuela[cf1]. Emoni signs up for a culinary arts class that culminates in a trip to Spain--and she begins to see a path forward, if only she dares follow it. Acevedo creates beautifully realized characters with complex lives. A few recipes (such as "When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemon Verbena Tembleque") are interspersed. Copyright 2019 Horn Book Guide Reviews.

Horn Book Magazine Reviews

High school senior Emoni Santiago, whose "Puerto Rican side is as Black as [her] Black American side," is many things—an aspiring chef, a proud North Philly native, a reserved student who keeps to herself, a teenage single parent. Emoni and her two-year-old daughter live with Emoni's abuela, as Emoni's mother is dead and her father lives in Puerto Rico. Emoni's life is one of difficult choices, and she is not sure she will be able to both pursue her cooking dreams and support her daughter. But as seniors begin choosing electives, Emoni signs up for a culinary arts class that culminates in a trip to Spain—and she begins to see a path forward if only she dares follow it. In this prose novel (following her acclaimed verse novel The Poet X, rev. 3/18), Acevedo continues to create beautifully realized characters with complex lives ("I shake my head at all the separate feelings inside me; sometimes I feel like a bigger mess than Babygirl's scattered toys"), and her portrait of a young mother is a story too infrequently taken up in YA. But readers of all sorts will find something to connect with in this honest and ultimately hopeful story—and aspiring chefs like Emoni can follow a few actual recipes (such as "When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemon Verbena Tembleque"). christina l. dobbs Copyright 2019 Horn Book Magazine Reviews.

Kirkus Reviews

Seventeen-year-old Afro-Boricua Emoni Santiago hones her gift for cooking and makes important decisions about her future. Emoni's 'Buela says she's had a gift for cooking since she was small. Now Emoni has her own toddler, Emma ("The kind of name that doesn't tell you too much before you meet her, the way mine does"), nicknamed Babygirl. Emoni's first day of senior year at her Philadelphia high school is also Babygirl's first day of day care, leaving Emoni saddened about missing parts of her life. Emoni's a classic example of the school system's failure to harness many students' creativity and interests, but thankfully she discovers and enrolls in a new class called "Culinary Arts: Spain Immersion." Though the teacher, Chef Ayden, respects her, he's strict, and Emoni nearly drops the class, but eventually she gathers the ingredients—connections and skills—she'll need for success. A romance that doesn't fit the usual mold and a class trip to Spain round out this fl avorful tale. Emoni occasionally breaks from first-person narration to address readers directly, and her voice and story feel fresh and contemporary. Diversity in representation is primarily racial and ethnic; however, Emoni's best friend Angelica is a lesbian. The short, precise prose chapters will draw in even reluctant readers, and the inclusion of several recipes adds to the appeal. Current pop-culture references and cultural relevance will attract both window and mirror readers. Sabroso. (Fiction. 14-adult) Copyright Kirkus 2019 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly Reviews

In this stunning sophomore novel from National Book Award and Printz winner Acevedo (The Poet X), Afro–Puerto Rican and African-American Emoni Santiago, a high school senior, lives in Philadelphia with her two-year-old daughter, Emma—nicknamed Babygirl—and paternal grandmother, 'Buela. A talented cook, Emoni balances school, work at a local burger joint, and motherhood—including shared custody with her ex-boyfriend, Tyrone—with moments in the kitchen, where her "magical hands" create dishes that allow the eater to access deep, surprising memories. But she's not sure what to do with her passion, or after high school, until enrolling in a culinary arts elective helps her to hone her innate cooking skills in the classroom and during a hard-won weeklong apprenticeship in Spain. As she gains practice at leadership and fund-raising, she also cautiously develops a budding relationship with new student Malachi, a boy who respects Emoni's boundaries. Acevedo expertly develops Emoni's close female relationships, which are often conveyed through the sharing of food and recipes, and which shape and buoy Emoni's sense of her own direction and strength. With evocative, rhythmic prose and realistically rendered relationships and tensions, Acevedo's unvarnished depiction of young adulthood is at once universal and intensely specific. Ages 13–up. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary Agency. (May)

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly.

School Library Journal Reviews

Gr 9 Up—The acclaimed author follows up her celebrated The Poet X with a love letter to food and a tribute to young, single mothers. Emoni Santiago is an Afro-Latinx high school senior in Philly who dreams up the most delectable concoctions, always mixing up tastes from her two cultures with a spice of her own. The news of a culinary arts course with a possible trip to Spain grabs her interest, but how will she juggle school, work, and taking care of her daughter? The young woman is barely balancing everything on her plate with the help of her talented best friend Angelica, 'Buela (her intractable grandmother), and occasional visits from her activist father (who moved to Puerto Rico after her mother's death). Acevedo populates her first prose novel with complex and unforgettable characters and turns the stereotype of "teen mom" on its head. Emoni has to deal with daycare drop-offs, custody issues, and making ends meet alongside college applications, budding romances, and the high school rumor mill. Realistic dialogue and vulnerable interior monologues about sex, loss, and insecurities will ring true with all adolescents. The author expertly weaves Spanglish, toddler mom worries, and culinary lingo and aptly evokes the Philly and Spain settings, immersing readers in Emoni's world. The novel's three parts are introduced by recipes created and perfected by the protagonist, and hints of Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate will leave teens hungry for more. VERDICT Acevedo's second serving offers a much-needed nuanced exploration of teen parenting that belongs on all shelves.—Shelley M. Diaz, BookOps: The New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal.

Voice of Youth Advocates Reviews

Emoni is many things, most notably a high school senior, a gifted cook, and a single mother. Her grandmother raised her in north Philly after Emoni's mother died in childbirth and her father fled to his native Puerto Rico to escape his grief. Senior year brings multiple changes for Emoni: a challenging culinary arts class, a chance to travel to Spain, a wonderful new boy in her life, and a need to figure out how to achieve her dreams of becoming an executive chef and still providing for her daughter without being a burden to her grandmother. She feels transported when she is creating recipes in her kitchen, but can she realistically use her gift and her love of cooking to make a better life for herself and her daughter? Emoni is clearly the star of this story. Acevedo has created a character who, while flawed, is someone to be admired. Despite the challenges in her life, or perhaps because of them, Emoni has a wonderful strength. She faces decisions always knowing that her daughter's well-being is her priority. She sometimes doubts her abilities but accepts every opportunity to prove herself and grow. Reading about her experiments with recipes is mesmerizing, as is the rest of the book. The writing is brisk, with the story presented in short chapters that compel the reader to keep going. Emoni's loving abuela and no-nonsense best friend add to the charm of the story. One does not need to be a foodie to devour this stellar book.—Debbie Wenk. 5Q 4P M J S Copyright 2019 Voya Reviews.