All You Knead is Love is going to be an important book for many readers. The difficult topics such as abuse and identity are handled with care. You can’t help but love Alba as she navigates so many new experiences. She is surrounded by such a wonderful group of friends and family who help introduce us to the beauty of Barcelona and Spain. Due to the sensitive nature of these topics, as well as some language, I would recommend this book for upper middle grade readers.
E ARC provided by Netgalley. #netgalley #allyoukneadislove

3.5 stars

The setting for All You Need is Love is excellent. Tanya Guerrero transports readers to the streets of Barcelona. The senses come alive with her descriptions, especially in the bakery. Some familiarity with baking is helpful, but the author does a fine job of describing the processes.

All You Knead is Love is a balancing act. Alba is coming to terms with the trauma she faced at home, and there is a lot of emotional pain spread throughout. Guerrero does a fairly good job balancing the heavier moments, but this could be a hard/triggering read for someone who has faced a similar situation.

While I enjoyed All You Knead is Love, I found myself questioning the suggested age range. The book feels older than 8. It’s hard to picture my daughter reading it one year from now. Everything skews older. Alba feels older. She’s on the cusp of being a teenager, but some of her actions/reactions push the reading age up to 10 or 12 and up.

The description of All You Knead is Love intrigued me! I don't think I've ever read a book set in Barcelona, and I loved reading about the different neighborhoods, amusement park, and especially the train trip to see the sunflowers. Alba's grandmother is a wonderful character, and I adored how easily she integrated her granddaughter into her life -- what an incredible community of friends!

As a childhood abuse survivor, I thought the New York flashbacks were handled in a delicate manner. But I really wish the author had included resources for readers to reach out and get help -- and had Isabel AND Alba talk to law enforcement and a therapist. I don't believe for one second that the father would just let his wife and daughter fly off to another continent without a fight.

I felt swept away to wonderful, vibrant Barcelona while reading about Alba’s time there! Friendship, family, and bread!

I feel like I have now read enough excellent middle grade books that feature protagonists cooking or baking that I should make a list of them. All You Knead is Love would be the latest addition to that list.

When I read middle grade contemporary, I often do so from a professional perspective. I prefer fantasy; I read contemporary to be aware of great new titles with diverse representation. Rarely do I connect with middle grade protagonists on a personal level. So I was surprised to find myself relating to Alba, even though our experiences differ greatly. Feelings of anger and frustration and sadness and the desire to run away from the problems that cause those feelings? Probably relatable to a lot of readers these days! At one point, I wrote a note, “Kid, I am feeling this”.

This is not to diminish Alba’s personal experiences. The story opens with Alba’s mother loading her onto a plane to Spain, because she doesn’t want Alba around as she tries to leave her abusive husband (Alba’s father). Alba has had a rough go of things, with a fractured relationship with her mother due to the abuse they have both experienced at the hands of Alba’s father. Alba’s parents also take issue with her gender expression. Her father’s downright awful about it; her mother wants her to be more feminine.

Abuela Lola (grandmother in Spanish and Tagalog), on the other hand, takes no issue, asking Alba about her gender identity early on in a poignant scene. Guerrero has noted, “I decided to make Alba non-gender conforming like my own daughter, because I felt there was a void in MG literature when it comes to representation like hers. Both my daughter and Alba identify as she/her, but they do not conform to the traditional mold of what a girl is supposed to be.”

Alba’s relationship with the grandmother she never knew is one of my favourite parts of the story. Throughout the story, Alba contrasts her experiences with Abuela Lola to what she has experienced growing up with her parents. In one instance, as Alba and Abuela Lola sit down to dinner, Alba notes that “Having someone there, and present, was disorienting” (16%), because it’s such a contrast to how she often ate dinner with her mother.

As Alba grows comfortable living with Abuela Lola, baking with her mother’s childhood friend Toni, and exploring Barcelona with Toni’s son Joaquim and Marie (daughter of the Chinese family who owns a restaurant in Abuela Lola’s building), Alba’s mother comes crashing back into her life. I didn’t anticipate that to happen (roughly halfway through). It kept the story engaging and pushed Alba to further confront her feelings and how she and her mother might relate to one another going forward.

At almost four hundred pages, there are further strengths in this story that I haven’t commented on. I’ve alluded to other key relationships in the paragraph above, but I haven’t touched on Alba’s experience with the Filipino community her grandmother introduces her to. Different aspects of family (blood, found, repaired, rediscovered) play a central role in the story. Alba and Abuela Lola’s relationship is just one exemplar. Alba also experiences her first ‘romantic’ encounters, in a way that’s entirely appropriate for middle grade and doesn’t overshadow other aspects of the story. I have to say I am glad there was no ‘redemptive’ romantic storyline for Alba’s mother! Overall, All You Knead is Love beautifully explores family, community, and finding belonging.

Oh, and I can’t wrap up this review without commenting on the setting. How nice it would be to wander the narrow streets and bask in the sun on a Barcelona beach right now… Guerrero’s descriptions did a great job at transporting me away from the grey dreary pandemic winter of the west coast.

The Bottom Line 💭: Although a lengthy tale, All You Knead is Love uses every page to tell a full and satisfying story that explores growing up with an abusive parent, expressing yourself in the way you feel most comfortable, and finding both your place in community and your passion.

This terrific story is about Alba, who is sent to spend the summer with her grandmother in Barcelona. Alba thinks that she's going to be with her grandmother because her parents don't want her. Alba finds a loving and accepting community where she can contribute her own gifts and help others in the best possible way. It's a wonderful story and I can't wait to recommend it to someone!

Things I loved: Barcelona! (Boy, how much I want to travel now that I can't!)
The characters, especially Alba herself.
The BREAD. Mmm. So well described!
Things I wasn't crazy about: I really have a hard time with books about physical abuse, especially since these past few years I've been trying to help a friend who left her abusive husband. It's just really hard for me to read, and it was all a little much for me to feel comfortable passing on to a kid.
I'm not sure why Alba's grandmother felt the need to ask about her gender identity simply because Alba was wearing jeans and a "boy's" t-shirt. I felt that the insistence that Alba come out and clarify her gender unintentionally promoted the idea that girls who like dressing like boys are somehow less girls. Would her grandmother have asked her how she identified if she was wearing a dress? It just sat wrong with me, and seemed to say the opposite of what was probably intended: to show Alba's grandmother as accepting and caring. (She proved to be so, as well as a very interesting character, but unfortunately this episode right at the start colored my view for a while.)

All You Knead is Love by Tanya Guerrero is a fantastic middle grade novel that tells the story of Alba, a twelve year old girl who goes to live with her grandmother in Barcelona . While Alba initially does not want to go live with her grandmother, she grows to love the world that she discovers and she is able to find herself.

I absolutely loved this story, and would wholeheartedly recommend it for middle grade and above readers. Alba's character is beautifully complex and my heart ached for her when learning about her childhood. I loved Alba's gradual process of falling in love with Barcelona and the people she meets. All of the characters felt real and were well-developed. The author handled the issues in the book with grace and sensitivity and the book was wonderfully written. I loved the setting and the descriptions of the food and bread! I felt that the book held important messages for readers who may be similar in age to Alba including finding your calling, loving yourself, and having hope. This story was beautiful and emotional, and I can't recommend it enough.

I was fortunate to receive an ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley which did not affect the contents of my review. All opinions are honest and my own.

All You Knead is Love warmed my heart. You know that joy of biting into a warm pastry and feeling the warmth in your hands? Of being transported by food to a memory? All You Knead is Love contains all of that. It's an emotional middle grade story about feeling unwanted. About trying to figure out our passions. Alba was such a relatable character, especially as she navigates her relationship with her mother.

As adults, we can observe the ways that Alba is loved and wanted, but that feeling is so relatable. I think it's universal to have felt being unwanted. To have just wanted to be seen and loved for a moment. How, sometimes, we cannot see the entire picture, the love behind gestures especially as the line between parent and child begins blurring. Alba, obsessed with magic, struggles to find a place that feels like home. To find people, a community, and friends.

I’m always here for middle grade baking books! This one tackled a number of tough subjects with baking and a new experience inBarcelona. I thought this view on abuse was interesting and gave so much perspective but also allowed for healing.

The end was a bit too wrapped up for my taste but I did want Alba to be happy.

I liked the setting; I feel like I really got the vibe of Filipinos in Spain and I've never seen that in a book before. There were a many times I thought this was going to become an issues book (Alba's anxiety, her gender expression, her abusive father), but it never did. There are some things about this book that definitely make it older middle grade so I think the author could have gone deeper into those difficult topics. This book has a very clean happy ending, but I don't feel like the character grew that much, more like her situation changed so all her problems went away. The pacing felt slow.

Alba is sent away to Barcelona to live with her grandmother, because her mother needs to think. At least that is what she is told. Her mother's side of the family was originally from the Philippines.

This is a wonderful story of finding home when you are not home. Despite not knowing any Spanish and not much Tagalog, Alba manages to make friends and discover that she loves to bake. And it all seems that maybe life will be good.

But of course, if that was all to the story, it wouldn't be much of a story, would it?

I love this theme of baking bread, as it is a very physical activity, and you get the reward of fresh bread when you are all over.

I also love all the places in Barcelona that Alba visits. Some, I had heard of. Others I had to look up. Makes me want to visit there someday.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

Absolutely amazing story of resiliency and human spirit. Alba captured my heart and I was simmered in this story.

Thank you so much for gifting me a copy.

ALL YOU KNEAD IS LOVE is one of the best MG books I've read in quite some time. I read this book in one full sitting the other night. The characters were well written. Realistic. Dynamic. The plot was well written and thought out. The character arc was so realistic, it reminded me what it was to be a young adult.

Thank you Macmillan and NetGalley for sharing a book for an honest review! This book made me hungry-hungry for more of Tanya’s words and hungry for bread! I loved the setting, the characters, and the plot that was so deep and powerful, but light enough for middle schoolers to enjoy at the same time. Truly a magical book that shows the beauty of middle grade books.

Alba copes with her emotionally detached mother and physically abusive father by running away and hiding, both physically and mentally. When her mother sends her to Spain to live with a grandmother she doesn't know, Alba feels like it is the end of the world. As she slowly begins to open up to Abuela Lola and life in Barcelona, she also begins to come to terms with her life before. Slowly, slowly she begins to heal and trust both herself and others. This book needs a playlist for all of the music mentioned as well as a recipe section!! Highly recommended for grades 5 & up.

Protagonist/Narrator Alba is sent off to Spain, where she'll be staying with a grandmother she really doesn't know, while her parents stay in the U.S. to focus on their marital problems without her. (Warning: Alba's dad is abusive; acts of violence are never detailed on the page, but we do hear talk of bruises and some verbal abuse) Alba herself has a tendency to run away (literally) whenever she's stressed or overwhelmed, and it's one of these instances that brings her to the doors of Rincon de Pan, a bakery that's run by her mother's former best friend, Toni. Alba herself befriends him (and his son) and starts to learn traditional bread baking alongside him.

I really loved this book. I loved watching Alba grow, develop her relationship with her mother and grandmother. I like that we got to see her with peers as well as with the adults in her life, and how all of these elements work together to shape her understanding of self and build up her esteem.

For me the 'loose ends' that prevent it from being a 5-star for me are regular hints at Alba being more masculine-presenting or possibly queer but then nothing happened with that. I don't need those queer elements in there, but since the author went to the trouble of bringing up these elements, I'd have liked to get a closing statement on those. I also didn't really like Alba's plans for saving the bakery, her plans or the actual result. It felt a bit too simple, too clean. It seemed like there was too much going on there for a pre-teen and her grandma to be able to solve, but it was still a nice ending.

This is a story that really grips you by the heart. You feel everything that Alba feels from happiness and joy to anger and pain. You laugh and cry right along with her. You feel her rage and her hurt.
This story is one of belonging and acceptance and of never settling. Despite this book dealing with some extremely heavy subjects its done with such grace. You really feel and understand what is going through Alba's mind as she faces these things that she must go throw.
This book is one I wish I had growing up and I am glad I have it now. I am glad this book is going to be others for those who need it. I will be working to recommend this book not only to those who will enjoy it as I did but also to those who need this book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.
3.5 stars
I'm torn about this book. I loved Alba and really felt for her, but something just seemed off about how the kids are portrayed. As a middle school teacher, I spread a lot of time with 12-year-olds and the kids just didn't seem like authentic gen z kids to me. I honestly wasn't sure when this book was set until a reference is made to the movie Elf and Alba starts a Pinterest board. Take out those two references and this book could have taken place in the 90s. It was refreshing to read about kids not obsessed with cell phones and Tik Tok, but when your target audience is, I'm not sure you have much buy-in.

Pros:
Alba and her short hair
Baking bread!!
Toni is the best
David Bowie!
Doesn't talk down to kids about heavy issues

Cons:
I think it's a little slow-paced for the target audience
The glossary is not separated by the languages so you have Spanish and Tagalog mixed together

Everything about this story was perfect! Readers will empathize with Alba's feelings of abandonment and uncertainty, and they will cheer her on as she gains confidence in herself and her ability to bake. The descriptions of Spain are spot-on. This book made me want to hop a plane to Barcelona and take a bread baking class.