With the Fire on High

From the New York Times bestselling author of the National Book Award-winning title The Poet X comes a dazzling novel in prose about a girl with talent, pride, and a drive to feed the soul that keeps her fire burning bright. Winner of the California Young Reader Medal!

Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago's life has been about making the tough decisions--doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela.

The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness.

Even though she dreams of working as a chef after she graduates, Emoni knows that it's not worth her time to pursue the impossible. Yet despite the rules she thinks she has to play by, once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free.

Plus don't miss Elizabeth Acevedo's Clap When You Land!

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416 pages

Average rating: 8.07

107 RATINGS

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8 REVIEWS

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Community Reviews

Carla_is_Reading
Oct 24, 2024
10/10 stars
Wow what a way to start the year.
This book hit so many points that reside in me and my experience. I was in tears during many of the emotions the main character experienced. Pretty much because I too can relate to her hardships. As a teen mom, though I was older than she was in this book, I remember being torn over being a responsible teen/young adult and wanting to experience life for your own age.
The character's background of being half Puerto Rican and growing up in a hispanic household also rang true to me.
An absentee father, and the emotions that come with it.
Just so many things about this book that Elizabeth Acevedo so eloquently detailed that felt true to me and made me experience this so vividly.
I highly recommend to friends its so enjoyable, a true YA with life lessons.
Anonymous
Aug 22, 2024
10/10 stars
This book gave me a LOT of feelings. Very inspirational and encouraging story. A good book for high school students.
JRo85
Mar 23, 2024
10/10 stars
Beautiful. Powerful. Delicious.
yenjii
Jan 25, 2024
8/10 stars
4.5 stars!

I listened to this as an audiobook which was read by the author themselves. The books covers a lot of ground (sometimes, I thought maybe too much at once) and challenges readers - this book would be a fantastic read for teens and young adults, and I would've recommended it to my old secondary students.

I may revisit this review, as there's quite a lot more to say but I haven't quite got my thoughts together yet.
Anonymous
Sep 22, 2023
10/10 stars
This book makes you want to smile and sigh happily just like Emoni's cooking does for her family and friends. I loved Emoni's voice and that every part of this book felt REAL and honestly contemporary in a way few contemporary books ever do. I love that Emoni's race is important to her and it shapes how she works with food and how she views and experiences the world but how in a book with majority black and brown characters, her race wasn't something to be seen as "exotic". I also absolutely love 'Bleua (aka) Gloria and how she has had a hand in raising 3 generations now and is finally learning to take time for herself. This book was absolutely delicious!

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