My Thoughts:
After just finishing Fake Dates and Mooncakes, I wanted more YA romance that incorporated food or a food contest. However, what this book does not have that Mooncakes has is the more complex, mature, and rounded voices and lives of the characters. Although the premise, a child of immigrants, is similar, the way Rubi handles her different issues is very immature. Her lies, her arrogance, her ego and her ability to continue to create a false front for herself was getting really irritating. I found myself scolding Rubi throughout the book, which is never a great feeling. Ryan, her tutor turned love interest is cute enough, but he does not have an opportunity to really be anything beyond his stereotype privileged white surfer boy.
What does save this book, though, is the actual debate and the contest. Although it was very fantastical and it took a lot of other characters to come forward for Rubi, what I appreciated was the way Rubi stayed with her Cuban roots to bake things on her own terms. In that way, she was able to show some respect to her parents and her culture. This book will be good for the middle school classroom library.
From the Publisher:
Graduation is only a few months away, and Rubi Ramos’s “recipe for success” to get into prestigious Alma University is already off track.
When Alma waitlists Rubi’s application, Rubi will need to be distraction-free to make the grade and keep her parents—who have wanted this for her for years—from finding out. Which means falling for her cute surfer-slash-math tutor, Ryan, definitely won’t work. And neither will breaking her mother’s ban on baking—her parents didn’t leave Cuba so she could bake just like them.
But some recipes are begging to be tampered with.
When the First Annual Bake Off comes to town, Rubi’s passion for baking goes from subtle simmer to full boil. Add to the mix her crush on Ryan may be turning into a full-fledged relationship and Rubi’s life is suddenly so different from what it was. She’s not sure if she has what it takes to win the Bake Off, or where the relationship with Ryan is going, but there’s only one way to find out—even if it means going against her parents’ priorities.
Now Rubi must differentiate between the responsibility of unfulfilled dreams she holds and finding the path she’s meant for.
A joyful novel of first romance, new possibilities, and the chance to define yourself, Rubi Ramos’s Recipe for Success will find its way into your heart.
When Alma waitlists Rubi’s application, Rubi will need to be distraction-free to make the grade and keep her parents—who have wanted this for her for years—from finding out. Which means falling for her cute surfer-slash-math tutor, Ryan, definitely won’t work. And neither will breaking her mother’s ban on baking—her parents didn’t leave Cuba so she could bake just like them.
But some recipes are begging to be tampered with.
When the First Annual Bake Off comes to town, Rubi’s passion for baking goes from subtle simmer to full boil. Add to the mix her crush on Ryan may be turning into a full-fledged relationship and Rubi’s life is suddenly so different from what it was. She’s not sure if she has what it takes to win the Bake Off, or where the relationship with Ryan is going, but there’s only one way to find out—even if it means going against her parents’ priorities.
Now Rubi must differentiate between the responsibility of unfulfilled dreams she holds and finding the path she’s meant for.
A joyful novel of first romance, new possibilities, and the chance to define yourself, Rubi Ramos’s Recipe for Success will find its way into your heart.
Publication Information:
Author: Jessica Parra
Publisher: Wednesday Books (May 16, 2023)
Print length: 313 pages
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