With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Hey Booklovers,

I'm back with another good book by Elizabeth Acevedo. I've read four stories from her this year. Gilded, The Poet X, and my favorite book of 2020 so far Clap When You Land. I've had my copy of With the Fire on High for a few months now but I hadn't opened it up yet. I decided to borrow the audiobook from my local library so I could read and follow along with Elizabeth Acevedo's voice at the same time.

There's something special about a writer who knows how to make every one of her stories completely different and weave the right words together for an enjoyable story. The heroine in this story is named Emoni and she's a self identified Afro-Boriqua. Her mother's family is from the American South and her father's family is from Puerto Rico. She lives with her abuela in Philly where she takes care of her two year old daughter. Teen pregnancy is a tough subject to approach and she does it here with care. She addresses the stereotypes people jump to when it comes to teen mothers. Emoni is not a fast girl or someone who wanted start a family and have her boyfriend move in with her, or someone who wanted a child to have someone to love her unconditionally. She's a girl who got caught up in a relationship and decided to step up to responsibility.  And while she and her ex barely get along she still tries to keep things cordial and works out an agreement with him and his parents for the sake of her child.

Emoni is a girl who perseveres. Her father gave her to his mother to raise after her own mother died during childbirth. He lives in Puerto Rico and though he calls her and sometimes visits he plays the role of activist for everyone but her raising money for teen mother's on the island but not helping support her. So instead she works a crappy job to help pay some bills and her every groaning expenses when it comes to her child. And although Emoni has never met her mother she still keeps ties to her mother's African-American family. Her aunt often sends her emails where they exchange recipes which she sometimes makes changes with different flavors to add her own little remix to them.

Emoni loves to cook and not just simple family recipes but recipes at places where she eats out or recipes she sees on tv often adding her own twist. When she has the chance to take a culinary class her senior year she is unsure she should shake things up. After all the class involves a trip to Spain to work for a week as an apprentice and surely she can't afford that. But with some encouragement from Buela and even her chef teacher she starts to think that maybe her dream of being a chef is not so far fetched.

I love how Buela is the supportive matriarch who takes care of Emoni and Babygirl but at the same time is allowed to voice that sometimes she wants time to herself. Time where she's not in grandmother or great-grandmother mode. It's not uncommon to see a Black grandmother take on the role of mother for multi-generations of children in her family. 

One thing Elizabeth does in everyone one of her stories is paint Blackness in the most beautiful light while dropping a bit of education in the process. Despite some of the Puerto Rican people you know telling you otherwise Puerto Rican is not a race. Emoni's family hails from an area in Puerto Rico heavily influenced by their African heritage. And she holds onto that with pride educating anyone who tries to tell her about her blackness. 

Food is it's own character here. It's clear Ms. Acevedo is a lover of good food evidenced by the many tasty dishes she includes in the story.  She really does a good job showing Emoni's love of food.

My favorite story by Elizabeth Acevedo is still Clap When You Land followed by Gilded from A Phoenix First Must Burn and you should also check those out but don't skip this one. Emoni's story flips perceptions we have about teen mothers while also letting them know they aren't defined or confined by their circumstances. While this YA does have a sprinkle of romance it's very well written and one of many ingredients in the recipe that creates this satisfying story.