Cooking

Acevedo uses cooking and recipes as a metaphor for navigating and understanding life, particularly the coming-of-age process. Acevedo utilizes tasting descriptions to parallel the stages of Emoni's maturation: the sour, the savory, and the bittersweet. As Emoni begins her journey through senior year, she is a bit soured by her history with Tyrone, her responsibilities, and her inability to assess what her future will hold. As she begins to better understand the "recipe" for success in the culinary world through her visit to Cafe Sorrel, she learns to savor her experiences with Chef Ayden, as well as her time with Malachi. At the end of senior year, Emoni realizes that change is bittersweet, as she is able to pursue her dreams in "measure" but people in her life will move on, whether it be her peers to college, or 'Buela to her newfound relationship with Joe...