Review: With the Fire on High

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

Elizabeth Acevedo has knocked it out of the park with this heartfelt YA novel.

Emoni Santiago is a young woman whose pregnancy at age fourteen has given her a different perspective than that of her peers. As a young mother, her first priority is her child, her second is taking care of her Abuela (grandmother) in part by working part-time, and whatever energy and little money she has left goes into her cooking. Her mother, Nya, died when Emoni was born and her dad, Julio, decided to leave Emoni in the care of his mother in Philly and return to Puerto Rico where he seems way more concerned about strangers than his own daughter. 'Buela and Emoni's best friend Angelica are the two pillars in her life, the only two people she can always count on. Now she's a senior in high school, on the cusp of adulthood, and unsure about her future path. Even with her gifts as a cook, she doesn't know if she should sign up for the culinary arts class that is a new senior elective, whether she should allow herself to hope that she can become a chef someday, or even whether she should bother to think about going to college. And then there's this new kid at school named Malachi, who's started thinking he's her friend in spite of her reminding him every chance she gets that she isn't.

This is a classic coming of age story. Emoni's naivete at fourteen doesn't ruin her chances to build her future. Even though she's a young parent, with the support of her grandmother, a good friend, and caring instructors, she manages to build her future in spite of the many challenges she faces. But it's also Emoni's pragmatic, forthright attitude that helps assure her success, an aspect I really loved in this book. Emoni learns to set boundaries, and recognize her own limits, and she knows when to ask for help or comfort. Her motto, "always forward," drawn from the Spanish expression "siempre pa'lante" keeps her from being trapped by her challenges.

This is a book that should be on high school summer reading lists. Its quiet takes on racism and sexism are reminders of all the ways we need to do better as human beings.

NB: It's a funny thing that my May Classic Read for the blog was Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate because Emoni's gifts in the kitchen and the love infused in her food reminded me of Esquivel's Tita. (Though it's important to point out that Emoni is Puerto Rican) In fact it had me wondering if Angelica's girlfriend Laura was a hat tip to Esquivel. The recipes included in the novel made me hungry!

I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Harper Teen in exchange for an honest review.

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