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High school senior Emoni Santiago has always cared about two things: her family and good food. That doesn’t change when she has a daughter and becomes a teenage mother. With her daughter to care for and her abuela to help support, Emoni has to grow up fast and make tough decisions. The only place she can let her responsibilities go is in the kitchen, where each dish can become something magical.
When the school’s new culinary arts class is announced at the beginning of the school year, Emoni knows she doesn’t have the time for the class or the funds for the class’ spring trip to Spain, but even with all the trials of her life and all the rules everyone expects her to play by, Emoni decides to take a chance and let herself pursue the dream of someday working in a real kitchen.
With the story told in a way that feels intimately like a diary, we get to know Emoni as she is — a strong, unyielding character full of vitality and hard-won hope. Despair still creeps through the pages, but there is a softness to the story that deadens the harshness of her world while not dismissing or belittling the hardships and trials Emoni faces as a young mother.
However, even with a character who tries to curb her language for her child’s sake, the book still has a lot of profanity. And while With the Fire on High is heartwarming and features strong themes of motherhood, family, and being true to oneself, there is a lot of content to wade through that I would rather not have had to do.
Rated: High, for over 20 uses of strong language, 19 uses of moderate language, and over 20 uses of mild language. Sexual content includes reliving the memory of the night she lost her virginity and her impression of the act. There is little detail, but you still have a clear idea of what is going on. Later on, there is upper nudity where characters undress, kiss, grope, and caress, yet stop before actual sex can happen, deciding to “try other things” instead. Two girls plan a romantic night to have sex. Characters kiss. Since Emoni is a teenage mother with a baby, a few students are cruel and make crude remarks.
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