I wanted a young woman of color to triumph and have hope. I wanted to treat this subject matter with dignity and tenderness. She’s in her senior year of high school when the story picks up and she isn’t sure if she has the same kinds of choices that her classmates have because she’s also a parent. So, Emoni Santiago was pregnant her freshman year of high school.

In the children’s category, we have books where are trying to decide whether to keep a child, but I really wanted to look at a character who had already made that decision. Although not as lyrical as Acevedo’s debut, With the Fire on High stands out for its unique, realistic subject matter and memorable characters.With the Fire on High was an attempt to think about young and teen mothers. Readers will connect with Emoni as she navigates complex relationships, her irritation at being misunderstood and her self-identity with confidence and sass while trying to keep her dreams realistic and motherhood on the front burner. Plus, she’s not sure what to do about the culinary class’s study-abroad trip to Spain, which she has no money for. (Readers can try out Emoni’s dishes for themselves with the many recipes peppered throughout.) But the class assignments feature as much science as they do art, more discipline than creativity, and Emoni isn’t the school-achievement type. When Emoni cooks at home, her dishes are inspired and have the power to bring people to tears. And Emoni’s grandmother, ’Buela, keeps having doctor’s appointments that she doesn’t fully explain.īut at school, a new guy is testing Emoni’s resolve not to deal with pretty boys, and then there’s the elective class she’s taking a chance on-culinary arts. Now, when Julio visits from Puerto Rico, he leaves without goodbyes. Emoni’s own father, Julio, is an activist who couldn’t handle single parenthood after Emoni’s mother, a black woman from North Carolina, died during childbirth. Babygirl’s father, Tyrone, is sweet to the child, but he’s a headache for Emoni. Her 2-year-old daughter, Emma, whom Emoni calls “Babygirl,” has just started daycare. Still waters run deep in With the Fire on High, the second novel from Elizabeth Acevedo, author of the award-winning The Poet X.Įmoni Santiago, known for her amazing skills in the kitchen, is a senior at her Philadelphia charter school, but her family is closer to the forefront of her mind than classes and college applications.

Book with the fire on high