With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

With the Fire on High

by Elizabeth Acevedo

'A delicious, evocative story' THE GUARDIAN

From the author of THE POET X comes a sumptuous prose novel, perfect for fans of Angie Thomas' On the Come Up, Justin Reynolds' Opposite of Always and Nicola Yoon

Ever since she got pregnant, seventeen-year-old Emoni's life has been about making the tough decisions - doing what has to be done for her young daughter and her grandmother. Keeping her head down at school, trying not to get caught up with new boy Malachi. The one place she can let everything go is in the kitchen, where she has magical hands - whipping up extraordinary food beloved by everyone.

Emoni wants to be a chef more than anything, but she knows it's pointless to pursue the impossible. There are rules she has to play by. And yet, once she starts cooking, and gets that fire on high, she sees that her drive to feed will feed her soul and dreams too. And anything is possible.

'With its judicious depth and brilliant blazes of writing that simmer, then nourish, With the Fire on High is literary soul food' New York Times

Reviewed by ibeforem on

5 of 5 stars

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When I fly through a book like I flew through this one, I have no choice but to give it five stars.

Emoni is starting her senior year of high school, but one thing makes her different than her classmates -- Emoni had a baby when she was a freshman. While all her classmates and friends are looking ahead to what college they are going to and what path they want to take, Emoni is wondering if college is a part of her future at all. When a culinary elective is reintroduced to her school, she decides that this may be her chance to see if her cooking is all its cracked up to be.

Having a baby isn't Emoni's only challenge. She is an afro-latinx girl living in Philadelphia with her grandmother. Her father is more attached to Puerto Rico than he is to her. Her baby's father and his family aren't the easiest to get along with. She and her grandmother struggle with money. She often longs to do things a teen without all these responsibilities would do, but to her credit, she has a good head on her shoulders. She takes a few wrong turns along the way, but I think she ends up where she needs to be in the end.

I enjoyed reading Emoni's journey. I like Acevedo's writing, and the chapters are really short so it's easy to get sucked into a "just one more chapter" cycle. There are a few things that I wish were different. Often the baby seems just thrown in as an afterthought, like "oh yeah, I have to account for where the kid is here". I also felt like some of the middle parts, like the fundraising work she does with her class, could have been a little more fleshed out and then maybe some of the trip stuff cut out. But overall, this was a really enjoyable read, and I will definitely look out for other books by Elizabeth Acevedo.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 29 July, 2020: Finished reading
  • 29 July, 2020: Reviewed