A review by amykuc
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

challenging emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I'm trying to curtail my book buying (ha!). But I listened to this one on audio and then needed my own copy. There was some beautiful descriptions and quotes that I wanted to be able to keep.

Emoni Santiago is balancing a job, a daughter, and her senior year of high school. This year the school is offering some special elective classes, and one of them is a culinary class-Emoni's passion. The highlight of this class is a week-long educational trip to Spain.  Emoni meets a new classmate, Mateo, who is adding a new thing to balance. She wants so badly to give her daughter a different life than she has and also has huge trust issues, stemming back to her father who left her with her abuela while he returned to the Dominican Republic after her mother's death during childbirth.

It was so easy to be inside Emoni's brain as she tries to figure out what she wants for her life instead of what others want for her. Watching the journey from her distrust of men to the realizations she has come to by the end are so hopeful.

The characters in this book are seniors in high school. Be aware that language and sexual content is appropriate for high school students.

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