This is my first Elizabeth Acevedo and I’m happy to report that the hype is real. I think that I’ve been putting off reading Acevedo because I’ve become a little allergic to YA and I was afraid that it would prevent me from enjoying her work. But Read Harder has a task for reading a YA book by a Latine author this year so with a little encouragement With the Fire on High made its way to my to read list for the year.
With the Fire on High tells the story of Emoni Santiago through her own first-person narration. We are with her for her senior year of high school as she navigates what comes next for her as a single mom of a toddler raised by her grandmother and a distant relationship with her father. She is Philly born and raised, and Acevedo’s writing is deeply rooted in place, down to neighborhood specifics and how various parts of the city relate to each other. Emoni’s story is about identity, hope, desire, and fear, and what taking the next big step means to her as she more fully enters her adulthood.
Overall, the writing is beautifully lyrical. The characters who populate this book are realistically flawed with complicated backstories. The narrowness of Emoni’s life is juxtaposed to the number of people who still populate it – her family, her best friend and her girlfriend, her ex, the boy who wants to get to know her, her teachers. Acevedo develops these characters and their relationships in a way that tells us more about Emoni without letting them be only for her character’s growth.
The book is also populated with touches of magical realism. Emoni’s cooking brings memories and emotions up for the people who consume it. It’s a light touch, only verging on to heavy handed late in the book with her father, but it adds just a little extra oomph to an otherwise very realistic story that isn’t afraid to leave some strings of the story untied.
Bingo Space: Success. The story focuses on Emoni’s successes and failures.
