A Place at the Table by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

Description: Sixth-graders Sara, a Pakistani American, and Elizabeth, a white, Jewish girl could not be more different. Sara is at a huge new school that is completely unlike the small Islamic school she used to attend, and Elizabeth’s British mum has been struggling with depression. The girls meet in an after-school South Asian cooking class, which Elizabeth takes because her mom has stopped cooking, and which Sara is forced to attend because her mother is the teacher. The girls form a shaky alliance that gradually deepens, and they make plans to create the most amazing, mouth-watering cross-cultural dish together and win a spot on a local food show. They make good cooking partners … but can they learn to trust each other enough to become true friends?

Review: This is another book to add to my list of recent favorites. It addressed so many cultures and their differences that I truly learned a lot about each one. It was easy to fall in love with these two completely opposite characters, and their struggles were all too familiar. I think this should be required reading for any kid around middle school age and older. It addressed a lot of stereotypes and gave the reader a tangible way to deal with the issues if they were presented in their own lives. Amazing writing by these two authors.