Penelope Prado has always dreamed of opening her own pastelería next to her father’s restaurant, Nacho’s Tacos. But her parents have different plans—leaving Pen to choose between disappointing them or following her own path. Xander Amaro has been searching for home since he was a boy. For him, a job at Nacho’s is an opportunity for just that—a chance at a normal life, to settle in at his abuelo’s, and to find the father who left him behind. Together, Pen and Xander must navigate first love and discovering where they belong in order to save the place they call home.
YA Books for Food Lovers
Want more books about food? So do we! Explore more books for food lovers below. This is a fun own voices Romeo & Juliet retelling of two teens working at their parents’ competing pho restaurants. When a chance meeting throws them together, sparks fly, and they team up to mend the break between their families. Soon, they realize their families’ feud goes much deeper than healthy competition. Can these teens navigate new love and overcome old animosity, or will family loyalties break them apart? Even worse, one of them catches her eye, and she’s stuck between not wanting to fall for her mother’s trick and exploring her attraction to James Wong, a Darcy-like boy whose aloof behavior intrigues her. In this Pride and Prejudice retelling, cultural tradition and new ideas collide. Now she must navigate the cut-throat world of reality TV, with celebrity judges, talented rivals, and a cute french chef, all rooting for her to fail. Can she take the heat? Then things start looking up for Hudson, and she’s back on the road to follow her dreams. Of course, just as she’s getting her second chance, a cute boy walks into their diner and, as they grow closer, old wounds surface, threatening everything. Can she learn to love again? Jack is the class clown who’s trying to get out of his popular brother’s shadow. When Big League Burger steals his grandparent’s grilled cheese recipe, he vows to take them down in a Twitter war of epic proportions. Meanwhile, Jack and Pepper and falling for each other on an anonymous app Jack built. As their connection grows and their Twitter fight reaches a pitch, Pepper and Jack find themselves being “shipped” by strangers online. This awkward, unlikely rivals-to-lovers romance is a quick, light read that has a lesson to tell about what we say online. Quinn’s family owns a wedding planning company, and she plays the harp at their weddings. Tarek’s parents own a catering company, and he works as a waiter. When Quinn admits her feelings for him over email before leaving for college, she expects a response — but doesn’t get one. Now it’s summer break and she dreads going home and seeing Tarek. A stream of weddings throws them together, and their bickering is incessant. But when Tarek opens up to Quinn and tells her a secret about himself, she realizes that perhaps everything is not as black and white as it seems.
Audiobooks About Food and CuisineFood Novels by Southeast Asian WritersSci-fi and Fantasy CookbooksChildren’s Books About FoodFood & Fiction for Diverse Tastebuds
