Hungry Hearts edited by Elsie Chapman and Caroline Tung Richmond

This may be my favorite book of the year. As a foodie and a cook, I love reading about food and its creators. Here we have a trip to so many ethnic and cultural cuisines that symbolize so much more than nourishing the body. Take a trip to Hungry Heart Row, a few square blocks of multicultural restaurants, food trucks and small businesses. You will meet a shy teen who bakes feelings into her pastry and gives them to people who need them.  Visit a Chinese establishment with gang connections. Grab a taste at a Muslim food truck with the best halal meat (look that up if you don’t know what it is). Meet a boy who puts his soul into his food to win a contest that will save his mother’s life. And so much more
Here are 13 stories by some of my favorite YA authors, all interconnected by setting and characters. When they magically appear in the next story, you ask,” How did they do that?” With magic, food and love!  Love, family, culture, belonging and the meaning of life.  It all awaits you on Hungry Heart Row.
Come for a stroll and stay for the food.

Tessa's Pick, 5th-8th grade, Character driven, Contemporary fiction, Global perspectives, People of Color, Short stories

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