A review by onthesamepage
A Place at the Table by Saadia Faruqi, Laura Shovan

emotional hopeful medium-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? Yes

4.0

This was just effortlessly engaging. At first glance, Elizabeth and Sara don't seem to have much in common—Elizabeth is half British and Jewish, and Sara is Pakistani and Muslim. But when they are made partners in a cooking class taught by Sara's mom, they end up becoming friends. This leads to some friction between Elizabeth and her best friend, Maddie, who shows a racist side of her that Elizabeth didn't know existed.

I think this book had a lot of good conversations about addressing Islamphobia and racism, especially when it comes from people you're close to. It's something Elizabeth struggles with throughout the story, and the authors do a good job of showing how that impacts her budding friendship with Sara as well.

The story beats are pretty predictable, but that didn't make the reading experience any less enjoyable. I read this during Ramadan, and the food descriptions had me salivating. I was also pleasantly surprised by Stephanie's character, who turned out to be a perfect example of how dangerous assumptions can be.
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