With the Fire on High
Written and Narrated By: Elizabeth Acevedo
Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
Even if all the bumps got smoothed over quickly, this was a fine Listen
First? AWEsome cover. How can a person NOT dive into this audiobook?
Second, Elizabeth Acevedo, in addition to being a fine writer, is noted to be a stellar narrator. How can a person NOT dive into this audiobook?
And I must say that this was a grand Listen, completely took my thoughts away from going back to work during a Pandemic.
Emoni Santiago is a veritable Public Service Announcement—She’s the girl you don’t want your own daughter to become. Pregnant by the time she was only a freshman in high school, she’s now that girl struggling to finish school, raise a daughter, work part-time to help her ‘Buela make ends meet.
The only thing she has in her life that is sure and not riddled with doubts and fears is her cooking. She can make simple Mac and Cheese and turn it from a comfort food to a full-blown experience, a treat for the senses. There’s juuuuust a touch of the magical here that is vaguely reminiscent of Like Water for Chocolate as author Acevedo has Emoni able to make dishes that inspire emotions, evoke memories of people and earlier times. Fortunately, Acevedo doesn’t go whole-hog in that direction, that would’ve had my eyes rolling, and she has just enough experiences depicted for me to get a lump in my throat as Emoni’s absent father remembers his dead wife during one meal.
Emoni’s life is upended when her school offers a Culinary Arts course as an elective, and she breaks free of her fears long enough to sign up for it. The story then follows her as she adds her magic to dishes only to be smacked down for not following directions, something she’d HAVE to do were she to be the chef she oh so wants to be. Further, there’s a new guy at school, and tho’ Emoni has sworn off dating (Look at where being around guys got her—She’s not going to fall for sweet words again!), he seems good and kind and says all the right things. Plus, he includes Baby Girl, her daughter, as though she’s as much a part of him as she is Emoni’s.
The book is fraught with unexpected upheavals and demands made upon her, whether it’s a threatened custody issue or it’s trying to raise oodles of bucks for the Culinary class’s trip to Spain, or it’s ‘Buela’s frequent visits to the doctor. But the disconcerting thing is that these aaaaallll are addressed and solved in a fairly easy manner, or they turn out to resolve themselves with little effort needed. This cut out a LOT of possible tension, and soon I was listening to the story, not on pins and needles but with the smug certainty that all would be well, Emoni, supposedly over-burdened, would find a way or would be eased right through. So a small boooo for that.
For the most part, however, at least here’s a story of a Black-Latinx young woman in a hard situation struggling to juggle it all, even as she discovers how precious all who surround her are. The language seems true-to-life, and I dearly loved her best friend, and ‘Buela was to die for. That Emoni had the courage to break through self-imposed hard and fast rules is refreshing, and yessss: Elizabeth Acevedo’s narration was great. She captured each character, and she kept her dialogue real (And it gets pretty humorous as we see Emoni DESperately trying not to swear as she’s a mom now, for cripes sake!).
If you’re looking for engaging characters, a good few worry-free hours, give this a listen. A couple of recipes, like say, for a broken heart, are included, plus? A little magic ALWAYS adds a little something to any story!
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