Emoni is a 17 year old Puerto Rican girl living in Philadelphia with her 'Buela (grandmother)...she's also a mother to a 2 year old baby named Emma, who she endearingly refers to as Babygirl. Her big passion since being not much older than her daughter, is cooking. She's not just...good at it, she's gifted, her 'Buela believes it's magic.
With The Fire On High has such a cosy, homely, feel-good vibe to it and I loved seeing Emoni's journey of finding her place in the world, despite the obstacles life has thrown at her. There are so many wonderful characters that I found myself rooting for, especially Emoni and Malachi!
This book deals with some serious topics like teenage pregnancy and racial prejudice; as a black girl, living in such a white centric country and the expectations of her in the Puerto Rican community where she lives in Philadelphia. What hit me hard in this story was Emoni's decision to give her baby a 'white' sounding name in order to give her better choices in life, because of the discrimination she herself experiences. There's a great deal of empathy in this book, it actually felt difficult to distinguish Emoni as a fictional character and not a real-life person that I've come to know and care about. The author has clearly taken the time to research teenage pregnancy, what it's like to raise a child when a parent is still very young themselves and something that really shines through in the book is what a good mum Emoni is.
Elizabeth Acevedo has such a gorgeous, poetic way of telling a story that pulls you all the way in, she's now one of my go to authors. The illustrations throughout the book are stunning and I really want to try Emoni's recipes as they sound incredible.
With The Fire On High has such a cosy, homely, feel-good vibe to it and I loved seeing Emoni's journey of finding her place in the world, despite the obstacles life has thrown at her. There are so many wonderful characters that I found myself rooting for, especially Emoni and Malachi!
This book deals with some serious topics like teenage pregnancy and racial prejudice; as a black girl, living in such a white centric country and the expectations of her in the Puerto Rican community where she lives in Philadelphia. What hit me hard in this story was Emoni's decision to give her baby a 'white' sounding name in order to give her better choices in life, because of the discrimination she herself experiences. There's a great deal of empathy in this book, it actually felt difficult to distinguish Emoni as a fictional character and not a real-life person that I've come to know and care about. The author has clearly taken the time to research teenage pregnancy, what it's like to raise a child when a parent is still very young themselves and something that really shines through in the book is what a good mum Emoni is.
Elizabeth Acevedo has such a gorgeous, poetic way of telling a story that pulls you all the way in, she's now one of my go to authors. The illustrations throughout the book are stunning and I really want to try Emoni's recipes as they sound incredible.