A Place at the Table

Name: A Place at the Table
Brand: Harper Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Saadia Faruqi
ISBN: 9780358343554

Author: Saadia Faruqi, Laura Shovan

Narrator: Nikhaar Kishnani, Caitlin Kelly

Unabridged: 7 hr 37 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Clarion Books

Published: 08/11/2020

Categories: Children's Fiction, Children's Social Themes, Religious Stories

Synopsis

A timely, accessible, and beautifully written story exploring themes of food, friendship, family and what it means to belong, featuring sixth graders Sara, a Pakistani American, and Elizabeth, a white, Jewish girl taking a South Asian cooking class taught by Sara’s mom.Sixth graders Sara and Elizabeth could not be more different. Sara is at a new school that is completely unlike the small Islamic school she used to attend. Elizabeth has her own problems: her British mum has been struggling with depression.The girls meet in an after-school South Asian cooking class, which Elizabeth takes because her mom has stopped cooking, and which Sara, who hates to cook, is forced to attend because her mother is the teacher. The girls form a shaky alliance that gradually deepens, and they make plans to create the most amazing, mouth-watering cross-cultural dish together and win a spot on a local food show.They make good cooking partners... but can they learn to trust each other enough to become true friends?

About Saadia Faruqi

Saadia Faruqi is a Pakistani American author, essayist and interfaith activist. She is the author, with Laura Shovan, of A Place at the Table, a Sydney Taylor Notable Book. Her book Meet Yasmin!, the first book in an early reader series about a Pakistani-American girl, received starred reviews, and she is also author of the adult fiction book Brick Walls: Tales of Hope & Courage from Pakistan. She lives with her husband and children in Houston, Texas, where she is editor-in-chief of Blue Minaret, a magazine for Muslim art, poetry, and prose.

About Laura Shovan

Laura Shovan is the author, with Saadia Faruqi, of A Place at the Table, a Sydney Taylor Notable book. Her debut middle-grade novel, The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary, was a NCTE 2017 Notable Verse Novel, a Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of the year, and won a Cybils Award for poetry, among other recognition. Her second children's novel, Takedown, published recently and her novels sit on over half a dozen state reading lists. She lives with her family in Maryland, where she is a longtime poet-in-the-schools for the Maryland State Arts Council.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Fizah(Books tales by me) on November 06, 2020

I wanted to read this book for months. Finally, I got the chance to read it. This book is about honest friendship, cultural representation and immigrants life. Sara, who is Muslim, and her parents are Pakistani immigrants. Her mother runs her catering business and is teaching in a cooking club. Eliza......more

Goodreads review by Jamilah on October 24, 2020

This story gave me all the feels! It's a warm, simple story that still manages to take on some difficult topics, including racism, immigration, and depression. Shovan and Faruqi develop every character in subtle but interesting ways. The personalities of the two main characters are as engaging as th......more

Goodreads review by Laura on July 24, 2019

Saadia and I discussed our collaboration on A PLACE AT THE TABLE at the Nerdy Book Club Blog. [URL not allowed]......more

Goodreads review by Aliza on December 05, 2019

I was enormously lucky to read an early version of this book. The story is told in two voices in alternating chapters, between Elizabeth (Jewish) and Sara (Muslim), whose families are from different religious and cultural backgrounds. The representation is accurate, co-written by two #OwnVoices auth......more

Goodreads review by Rida on May 14, 2024

And Sara is the reason why I don't read books that have anything to do with Pakistani girls! Here, I thought I'd give this book a try... but sadly I was once again disappointed. I gave this book 2 stars because I love the whole book and the all characters EXCEPT for SARA!!! She is the only character t......more