When food creates unity in diversity: A book review of “A place at the table”

We all have a list of things that we like or dislike.But the most liked thing, without doubt, is good food. I am a big foodie and I like baking and helping out in the kitchen. I enjoy varieties of food, for example Mexican, Chinese, south asian, continental and much more. I believe that food connects people. Here, I would like to share with you a wonderful book called “A place at the table” by Laura Shovan and Saadia Farqui.This is the story of friendship, cultural diversity, racism, financial difficulties, grief and mental health. This book recently won the Sydney Taylor Notable award.

A place at the table, is about two girls Sara and Elizabeth who are in sixth grade. Sara is a Pakistani American girl whose parents are a little behind on bills which means she has to move to a public school from a private Islamic school .Sara struggles to fit in the new school as she faces racism.Her mother, Mrs Hameed, runs the after school South Asian cooking class for the middle school.Not many children seem to be interested in that class except for a girl named Elizabeth. Elizabeth, a Jewish English girl, is always interested in learning new cuisine. But Elizabeth has her own problems. She is overwhelmed because of the challenges at home. Her Nan(grandma) has just passed away in England and her mother has been suffering from depression since then. Elizabeth must take responsibilities and take care of her brothers as her mom is unable to take care of things at home and her dad is always traveling for work. Her mom is a Christian from England and dad is Jewish from America. Her mom misses her family in the UK. When Elizabeth joins the asiancooking club, she discovers her passion for cooking. However, her best friend Maddy, wants to join the cupcake club instead and says mean racial comments about the class and the ingredients used in the club. Although Sara and Elizabeth have differences, the cooking class brings them together. The girls also help their immigrant mothers to study for their US citizenship tests. While the friendship grows there is a cooking competition for which Sara and Elizabeth have a plan. They want to make a special recipe which is a fusion of asian and american dishes. They name it “Halwa Cuppa Tea” with a special south asian pudding called “Halwa” and a special type of ice cream called Earl Grey Ice Cream. Will they win the contest? What will happen to their friendship? Will the moms pass the US citizenship test?To find more about this journey, read this book.

I really liked this book, because it’s about two girls in a middle school and how they find friendship amid the differences. I was excited towards the end as Sara and Elizabeth work as a team to create a special treat which combines two different cultures.I also learned a lot about their diverse cultures and heritage. It was interesting to learn about the jewish and islamic customs. I loved the creative and confident character of Elizabeth. I was impressed by her honesty as he took the blame for something wrong she did. Sara is passionate about cooking. She is very independent and responsible as she takes care of her naughty brothers and helps her mom. I liked the characters of two girls because I could identify with them. As the characters are of my age It felt like we have common perspectives about life. Especially the friendship that I had with a girl in school. It is also interesting because the book is written by two authors with different cultural backgrounds and perspectives . I feel that the credit for the friendship between girls should go to Mrs Hameed, as her cooking club brought Sara and Elizabeth closer to each other. Mrs Hameed’s cooking club table brought diverse culture and heritage together. The short chapters and easy language helps you complete the book quickly. It is a very interesting book and I recommend this to everyone specially middle school children.