Tastre: My Life through Food by Stanley Tucci

Taste: My Life through Food by Stanley Tucci
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Many thanks to Tara Smith for lending me this awesome, and oh so honest and funny look at Stanley Tucci's life and his love of food. I love him as an actor and now also as an author. He was so interesting as he gushed about food, provided recipes (yay!), and let us see his life as a youngster through to COVID and a health scare. What I loved most were his exclamations over food---his descriptions were authentic and I hung on every word---especially when he really liked something---we are treated to a big FUCK as the BEST way he can describe tasting food (and he did this a few times) that was just beyond awesome. I enjoyed his parents and their love of food and how it became Stanley's life too and his way to pass on memories through food to his family. A must read!

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Ways To Make "Sunshine" by Renee Watson

Ways to Make Sunshine by Renée Watson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved Ryan Hart, her grit, her happiness, her drama, and her cooking. Ryan is a 6th grader with good friends, and a brother she constantly fights with. When her father loses his job at the post office, Ryan faces challenges and ways to make "sunshine" out of the new drama in her life and school. I liked her relationship with her parents and the way she and her friends figure things out. Middle grade readers will enjoy this first in the series with family, friendship and school dynamics!

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With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I just loved Author Elizabeth Acevedo's narration & story of The Fire on High, I grew up in Philly and now live in a suburb close to Philadelphia. I loved Emani, her story, her love of cooking & everything Philly. All librarians need to get this book in their libraries!!! Teens will love teen mom, Emani and her struggles within herself, with her family, and in school. I savored her love of cooking (the title of this book is just perfect), how she describes over and over her love for her daughter, grandmother, Philadelphia, and her friends. This book should be in all high schools; the themes are so important, the characters find strength despite their daily circumstances in urban neighborhoods, and I just wanted to eat all the food Emani cooked, discussed, and made in Spain. A must read; loved this book!!! Thank you so much for this ode to Philly I will be recommending it to all my friends.

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Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai

Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to #BookJunkies and Henry Holt and Company for the advance reader copy of Pie in the Sky by debut author, Remy Lai, in exchange for an honest review. What a delicious middle-grade book from debut author, Remy Lai. Using a funny yet poignant plot, glorious illustrations, and two main characters (brothers- Jingwen and Yanghao) you will never forget, Remy weaves a moving yet humorous (thanks to little brother, Yanghao) story of immigrating to a new country, the uncertainties of being the new student faced with a language barrier, and trying valiantly to make pies in order to “fix” things and make everything better. Bickering brothers constantly calling each other “boogers” are alone after school and into the night as their mom works in a bakery. Older brother, Jingwen, has a harder time grasping the English language, but he also fights committing himself to learning English, and once he hears classmates calling him “slow,” Jingwen isolates himself even more with his nose in a book inside school. But Jingwen and Yanghao have plans to make all the cakes their father was going to make in his bakery, Pie in the Sky, even though their mother has refused to let them use the oven and made them promise. Younger brother, Yanghao, is funny, but he is also positive, loves life, and has a better, quicker command of English than Jingwen, and he has made friends in school. As the two brothers bake the special cakes, Jingwen reveals their father died before they immigrated (it was on Sundays with his father that they baked the cakes); they have relatives and friends from back home, and the constant lies and omissions to their mother is wearing on Jingwen. As he sinks into despair (Jigwen blames himself for his father’s death), he also refuses to see/listen to his little brother about situations the language barrier is creating, further causing Jingwen to make rules they must adhere to each time they bake another special cake. I ached for Jingwen and rooted for his happiness becoming a good missing his father whenever he is happy. I loved the ending as the dread Jingwen feels, lifts, and becomes a happy, positive motivation where brothers, mother, and friends share “cake time.” A must read; highly recommended!

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