This book is about an Afro-Latina teen mom with a gift for cooking. There is a romance element, and it is really sweet, but this book is much more about Emoni figuring out who she is and what she wants to do through her culinary arts class at school. It is really beautiful to join her on that journey and see her grow.

I absolutely loved following a Latina American, especially from the same nation as me! (My excitement for this book turned way up when it was revealed she is Puerto Rican!) Some things I liked:

-The internal dialogue about race and ethnicity and identity are on point. I related so hard to being multicultural and being torn about identity.
-The Spanglish is perfecto! Seriously, I felt so at home with the way Spanish came in. It felt very authentic.
-The conversations and thoughts about relationships and sex are very realistic and healthy.
-This book deals a lot with Emoni’s challenges of making ends meet and balancing school, parenting, and work and all of that feels very real.
-I think everyone in this book is black and it is so wonderful to see that.

I really enjoyed this and am so happy teens have this kind of YA novel available to them.

Fantastic audiobook!