An Appetite for Miracles
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Award-winning author Laekan Zea Kemp’s heart-wrenching novel-in-verse follows two teens who must come together to heal the pain from their pasts, perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo and Nicola Yoon.
Danna Mendoza Villarreal’s grandfather is slowly losing himself as his memories fade, and Danna’s not sure her plan to help him remember through the foods he once reviewed will be enough to bring him back. Especially when her own love of food makes her complicated relationship with her mother even more difficult.
Raúl Santos has been lost ever since his mother was wrongly incarcerated two years ago. Playing guitar for the elderly has been his only escape, to help them remember and him forget. But when his mom unexpectedly comes back into his life, what is he supposed to do when she isn’t the same person who left?
When Danna and Raúl meet, sparks fly immediately and they embark on a mission to heal her grandfather ... and themselves. Because healing is something best done together—even if it doesn’t always look the way we want it to.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mexican high schooler Danna Mendoza Villareal navigates grief, love, and memory in this gutting yet hopeful verse novel by Kemp (Heartbreak Symphony). After finding a personal book of recipes and food reviews written by their grandfather, who has dementia, Danna and her cousin Victoria reintroduce him to each dish, intending to help him recall his lost memories. But Danna's mother sours this plan, constantly commenting about Danna's weight and monitoring the teen's eating habits. Meanwhile, Raúl Santos, alongside his pastor uncle, acts as a "human jukebox" for their community's elderly, believing that "through the power of music,/ we lead people/ back to the life/ they once had." Though Raúl seems effortlessly effervescent, he carries private heartache over his mother's wrongful imprisonment two years prior. When Danna and Raúl meet, sparks fly, and together they discover the joys of first love and inspire each other to look ahead to their futures, even as they're preoccupied with the past. By employing layered characterizations and dual perspectives rendered in lyrical prose, Kemp skillfully examines themes of anti-fat bias, generational trauma, and the prison-industrial complex, while simultaneously cultivating a tender love story. Ages 14–up.
