I THOROUGHLY enjoyed this story told in two different voices. Sara is Pakistani-American, and her mother is teaching a South Asian cooking class after school that she attends. Elizabeth is British-American and attends the class with the hope of learning how to make better meals for her family. The girls discover that both of their mothers are preparing to take their U.S. citizenship test, and bring them together with the hope that they can help each other study and prepare. In the process, they become tentative friends who have to learn how to trust, support, and understand each other and their respective cultures, and its effect on them as individuals.

What I loved most about this story is how Sara teaches Elizabeth what it truly means to be an ally, and what that looks like. I think that's a valuable lesson for young readers (as well as adult ones) who don't understand what that term means and how to support a friend whose race is different from their own. I also love that food is such a big part of this story, and that the girls explore how to create a culinary fusion for the international cooking contest they enter. There is a lot of excellent discussion material in this story on big topics such as race, religion and immigration, but also friendship, family, and how to make choices to be the type of person you want to be.

I will definitely be adding this to our library's collection when it comes out in May.

I was immediately hooked by the dual stories of Sara and Elizabeth. This book is so unique, each chapter told from each of the girls’ perspective by two different authors. I learned so much about Pakistani and Jewish culture and about the different issues that each girl faced in her own life. They had my heart from their first lines and I cannot wait to share their story with everyone!