A Place at the Table

February 1, 2020
An after-school South Asian cooking class sparks an unlikely friendship. Pakistani American sixth grader Sara is sick of cooking. It's bad enough that the demands of her mother's catering business fill Sara's free time. But when her mother starts teaching a South Asian cuisine class at Poplar Springs Middle School, the school Sara transfers to from her beloved Islamic school, Iqra Academy, she's forced not only to watch her mother cook, but also to watch her new, xenophobic classmates balk at Sara's favorite spices. Elizabeth, on the other hand, loves cooking--perhaps because her English-immigrant mother, who suffers from depression, and her American-born father, who is always traveling, never seem to find the time to make proper meals. When Elizabeth is paired with Sara, the two of them form a friendship--until Elizabeth's best friend's racism threatens to separate them just when they need each other most. Writing in alternating voices, the authors elegantly interweave issues of racism, financial insecurity, and mental illness into a familiar middle school narrative of identity formation. Sara's character is particularly well drawn: Her affectionate family, her insistence on Elizabeth's responsibility to stand up to her white, racist friends, and her love of her culture and religion are refreshingly authentic. Elizabeth's mostly secular Jewish family life will also ring familiar to many readers. At times, however, the narration verges on preachy, and the dialogue feels more mature than the average sixth grade banter. This tale of a diverse friendship tackles hard topics. (Fiction. 10-14)

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April 27, 2020
When 11-year-olds Elizabeth and Sara meet in an after-school South Asian cooking class, they don’t immediately hit it off. Pakistani-American Sara is anxious about her family’s finances and upset about starting sixth grade at a big public school instead of the private Islamic one she’s always attended, while Elizabeth, who is Jewish, worries about her British mother’s depression and her old best friend replacing her. When the girls become cooking partners, though, they embark
on a cautious friendship with some realistic bumps: Elizabeth fails to stand up for Sara when a classmate makes racist comments, and Sara quickly tires of Elizabeth’s lack of knowledge about Muslim life. Despite these
occasional clashes, the pair become close, entering a cooking contest with an ingenious British-Pakistani fusion recipe and setting their mothers up to study for their U.S. citizenship tests together. Told in alternating voices, Faruqi and Shovan’s nuanced tale about the thrill of budding friendship is relatable without sacrificing challenging topics, such as casual racism and financial difficulties. Ages 10–12. Agents: (for Faruqi) Kari Sutherland, Bradford Literary; (for Shovan) Stephen Barbara, InkWell Management.

May 1, 2020

Gr 5-7-Not only has Sara had to transfer from her small Islamic school to public school as a sixth grader, but Sara's Pakistani parents are now making her attend the South Asian cooking class her mother is teaching after school. Elizabeth joins the cooking club to find new meals to add to her repertoire; she is often the one cooking for her brothers while her British mother suffers from depression and her Jewish American father travels extensively for work. As the girls work together to form a recipe for a cooking contest at school, they bond over their immigrant mothers taking their American citizenship tests. But their blossoming friendship is tested by their xenophobic classmates, none worse than Elizabeth's best friend. Faruqi and Shovan have collaborated to create a thoughtful work where viewpoints alternate so readers can see the girls' stories differently. The girls ask each other a lot of questions that are always answered, though sometimes with an adult tone that seems heavy handed from a sixth grader. The book focuses a bit more on Sara's family and struggles, interspersed with her anger at Elizabeth and their classmates over their lack of acceptance and knowledge throughout the story. Both girls' religions are discussed frequently. The authors continue to use food to help tell their story; the food descriptions are vivid and will make readers hungry, with included recipes. VERDICT A solid story of unexpected friends coming together to break bread.-Kerri Williams, Center Moriches Free Public Library, NY

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June 1, 2020
Grades 4-7 Sixth-graders Sara and Elizabeth are both struggling to adjust to middle school. Sara has transferred to public school from a small Islamic academy; Elizabeth has fallen out with her former best friend, and her mom seems crippled by depression. The girls meet in an after-school South Asian cooking club (taught by Sara's mom, who is also a caterer) and forge a tentative friendship. Told in alternating chapters by both girls, the story's strength lies in its realistic depiction of typical middle-school concerns (friends, family, teachers) set against a backdrop of multiculturalism. Sara resents that her kitchen always smells of ethnic spices and that her Islamic faith prevents her from celebrating holidays like Halloween; Elizabeth begins to detect subtle anti-Semitic comments from her former BFF, a girl who also tells Sara to go back to where she came from. Lighter side plots involve both moms studying for their citizenship tests and a cooking contest in which the girls make Earl Grey tea-flavored ice cream and Pakistani custard. Timely and true-to-life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)