When EmoniвЂ™s school announces a new culinary arts class that will culminate in a weeklong apprenticeship in Spain, there was a ricochet of feeling in her, a tentative swell of hope flinching back toward the firmer ground of hopelessness. Raised by her grandmother Gloria (whom she calls вЂBuela) after her mother died and her father became a figurehead moving in and out of her life with little permanence, Emoni is determined to be the best mother she could be. But now whenever she sought those fantasies, her 3-year-old daughterвЂ™s face would not let them take root. An aspiring chef, she dreams of attending culinary school where she can tend her skills, through practice and diligence, like gardens until they gleamed beneath the sun. When people taste EmoniвЂ™s food, something deep inside them, once misaligned, shifts back into its proper place. No wonder, then, that when I turned the last page, the entire world seemed to be oversaturated, too bright, too sharp, swallowing the slice of light and returning me abruptly to darkness.ДЄcevedoвЂ™s second novel centers around 17-year-old Afro-latina Emoni Santiago whose cooking is an instrument of wonder. When people t With the Fire on High was soft, enfolding, light as a dusting of snow upon my forehead, the kind of novel that deadens the harshness of the world and takes the sting from any barb. AcevedoвЂ™s second novel centers around 17-year-old Afro-latina Emoni Santiago whose cooking is an instrument of wonder. No wonder, then, that when I turned the last page, the entire world seemed to be oversaturated, too bright, too sharp, swallowing the slice of light and returning me abruptly to darkness. With the Fire on High was soft, enfolding, light as a dusting of snow upon my forehead, the kind of novel that deadens the harshness of the world and takes the sting from any barb. But even with all the rules she has for her life-and all the rules everyone expects her to play by-once Emoni starts cooking, her only real choice is to let her talent break free.more Still, she knows she doesnвЂ™t have enough time for her schoolвЂ™s new culinary arts class, doesnвЂ™t have the money for the classвЂ™s trip to Spain-and shouldnвЂ™t still be dreaming of someday working in a real kitchen.

The one place she can let her responsibilities go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness. Still, she knows she doesnвЂ™t have enough With her daughter to care for and her abuela to help support, high school senior Emoni Santiago has to make the tough decisions, and do what must be done.

With her daughter to care for and her abuela to help support, high school senior Emoni Santiago has to make the tough decisions, and do what must be done.

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