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A Place at the Table

Saadia Faruqi (Goodreads Author),

Laura Shovan (Goodreads Author)

4.54 · Rating details · 35 ratings · 18 reviews

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 huge and ...more

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Hardcover, 320 pages

Expected publication: May 12th 2020 by Clarion Books/HMH

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Average rating 4.54 ·

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· 35 ratings · 18 reviews

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Jul 24, 2019 Laura Shovan rated it it was amazing · (Review from the author)

Saadia and I discussed our collaboration on A PLACE AT THE TABLE at the Nerdy Book Club Blog.

https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/2...

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Dec 03, 2019 Aliza Werner rated it it was amazing

Shelves: acceptance-understanding, diversity-author-illustrator, diversity-mc, female-main-character, fiction, middle-grade-chapter, realistic-fiction, wsra-2020

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 authors who bring their own life experiences to the storytelling. Readers will follow modern day characters who grapple with fitting in, standing out, and knowing what it is to be a true friend and ally. ...more

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Dec 21, 2019 Laura Mossa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: bookexcursion, realistic-fiction, middle-grade-lit, must-read-in-2020

I finished reading A Place at the Table before the New Year so I did not include it on my official #mustreadin2020 list, but this novel, beautifully co-written by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan is truly one you do not want to miss.
Navigating middle school is challenging for sixth graders, Sara and Elizabeth. Sara is adjusting to attending public school for the first time, and Elizabeth is dealing with a change in her relationship with her best friend, Maddy. Home life also presents issues. Sara I finished reading A Place at the Table before the New Year so I did not include it on my official #mustreadin2020 list, but this novel, beautifully co-written by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan is truly one you do not want to miss.
 Navigating middle school is challenging for sixth graders, Sara and Elizabeth. Sara is adjusting to attending public school for the first time, and Elizabeth is dealing with a change in her relationship with her best friend, Maddy. Home life also presents issues. Sara is worried about her mother’s catering business while Elizabeth is coping with her mother’s depression after the death of Elizabeth’s grandmother.
 Sara and Elizabeth meet in an after school cooking club which is taught by Sara’s mother. The girls become partners out of necessity and at first, it seems that Sara who is Pakistan-American and Elizabeth who is British-Jewish-American have nothing in common. An extremely talented artist, Sara would rather create in her sketchbook while cooking, reading, and Dr. Who are Elizabeth’s passions. Their friendship has a rocky start but after a few mishaps, they learn the key to being a true friend is honesty and patience. Sara and Elizabeth also realize that their cultural differences are an asset, for through their collaboration, they create a unique recipe for the international cooking contest. 
Told through the points of view of Sara and Elizabeth in alternating chapters, co-authors Faruqi and Shovan have seamlessly written an authentic and powerful middle grade story that explores themes of family, culture, religion, identity, racism, friendship, food and most importantly, finding the voice to speak up for yourself and others. I highly recommend A Place at the Table to not only students but also teachers and parents, for I gained perspective on Pakistani and Jewish culture and the challenges of being a first generation American. As a Marylander, I also loved that the novel took place in my home state with many references such as The Curious Iguana, an independent bookstore in Frederick and our hometown paper, The Baltimore Sun.
 Thanks to the authors and publisher Clarion Books/HMH for sharing an ARC with my #bookexcursion group. Pre-order now, for A Place at the Table will be released on May 12, 2020. ...more

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Dec 21, 2019 Erin Varley rated it it was amazing

Thank you to Laura Shovan, Saadia Faruqi, and Clarion Books for sharing an ARC with #bookexpedition.

This book has my whole heart. Told in alternating points of view, sixth graders Sara and Elizabeth are each in need of a friend. Both girls are struggling with complicated home lives and a common bond of cooking brings them together. Mix in a cooking contest, middle school friendships, and a much-needed lesson on empathy, A Place at the Table is required reading for all modern educators and their ...more

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Nov 19, 2019 Debbie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: book-club, teen

Would work well in a book discussion group, especially if it included cooking.
Advanced Reader Copy

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Feb 20, 2020 Katie Reilley rated it it was amazing

Thank you to Saadia Faruqi, Laura Shovan and Clarion books for sharing an early copy with #bookexpedition.

Told in alternating points of view, this middle grade novel shares the stories of Elizabeth and Sara, two sixth graders who need a friend. The girls are from different cultures and religious backgrounds, and they’re both struggling with complicated home lives and brought together through a cooking class. The girls learn that both moms are preparing to take the U.S. Citizenship test and ...more

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Dec 17, 2019 Kathie rated it it was amazing

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 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.

Merged review:

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.

Merged review:

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. ...more

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Jan 17, 2020 Stephanie rated it it was amazing

A Place At The Table by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

Bespectacled, nerdy, half-Jewish-half-Brittish Elizabeth and dark-haired, artistic, Muslim, Pakistani-American Sara may not realize it at first but they have a lot in common. Both have mothers who are immigrants studying for their citizenship tests, both have pesky brothers, both are members of often discriminated against religious groups, both have best friends who are suddenly distant through no fault of their own. When they become partners ...more

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Jan 14, 2020 Amanda Bishop rated it it was amazing

https://bookshelflife.weebly.com/home...

A Place at the Table is a story told in two voices by two authors. Elizabeth and Sara are both starting middle school and aren't ready for all the changes that this transition brings. Elizabeth is trying to keep her elementary best friend while Sara is adapting from her small Islamic school to this giant new public middle school. The two girls meet when Sara's mom begins teaching for the cooking club and Elizabeth enrolls. Both girls are going through ...more

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Jan 11, 2020 Shireen Hakim rated it did not like it

DNF.
Boring.
I liked Elizabeth better than Sara, the Muslim character.

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Jan 05, 2020 Kristin Crouch rated it it was amazing

I love everything about this book, except for the fact that I received an ARC from NCTE and therefore don't have the recipes yet! Cannot wait to buy the final version and try every single recipe included.
Sara and Elizabeth have never met before they both find themselves in a South Asian cooking class. They soon discover they're both daughters of immigrants who are studying for the citizenship exam, but not having an easy time doing so. As they work together on their cooking and forming a ...more

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Feb 23, 2020 Ms. Yingling rated it really liked it

E ARC provided by Netgalley

Sara's mother is running a cooking club at her school, and she is forced to go along. She used to attend Iqra Islamic School with her best friend Rabia, but has recently moved to the public middle school. Elizabeth Shainmark is also attending the class with her friend Maddy, who has been spending more and more time with Stephanie. The students in the class are not very nice to Mrs. Hameed, making comments about the spiciness of the food and pretending they can't E ARC provided by Netgalley

Sara's mother is running a cooking club at her school, and she is forced to go along. She used to attend Iqra Islamic School with her best friend Rabia, but has recently moved to the public middle school. Elizabeth Shainmark is also attending the class with her friend Maddy, who has been spending more and more time with Stephanie. The students in the class are not very nice to Mrs. Hameed, making comments about the spiciness of the food and pretending they can't understand her accented English, and the home Family and Consumer science teacher Mrs. Kluckowski is openly hostile as well. Elizabeth, whose British born mother is working on her citizenship test, tries to connect with Sara, who is reluctant to engage with anyone in her new school. Elizabeth's mother is depressed after the death of her own mother in England, rarely cooks, and hasn't gone back to work. Things are tough at Sara's house as well; her mother started a catering business from their kitchen, but hasn't made enough money to pay back the loan, which is why Sara has had to move to public school. She is also studying to become a US citizen. As Sara and Elizabeth become closer, they introduce their mothers, hoping that the two will help each other out. Elizabeth is worried that her mother will return to England and never return to the US, but is helped somewhat when her father's mother, Bubbe, comes to visit the family. Elizabeth enjoys her family's Jewish traditions and can understand why Sara is often uncomfortable and scared because of racial prejudice. They both experience friendship troubles. The two work together on a recipe for a school contest and come up with Earl Grey ice cream with halwa bits in it, but run into trouble with Mrs. Kluckowski when making a test batch. Will the girls be able to help their mothers with gaining their citizenship and keeping their families afloat while navigating the unsteady waters of middle school?

Strengths: First of all, all middle grade books should include lots of food and sports! I loved that Elizabeth and Sara were reluctant friends, brought together by circumstances, but eventually warmed to each other and made a difference in each other's lives. I also enjoyed that they both had strong, supportive, intact families who were going through some difficulties. Family difficulties do impact children, and it was interesting to watch the two girls try to help out. Sara's transition to a public school was described in a way that made her bitterness understandable. Maddy's family was responsible for her behavior (her father calls Mrs. Hameed "that Arab woman" and talks about "people like us"), but she eventually rises above it. Stephanie was a character with hidden depths. It is good to see a book where parents are working on becoming citizens; I can't think of any others, and I certainly have a lot of students in this situation.

Weaknesses: It was hard for me to believe that Mrs. Kluckowski could be so mean; it would NOT fly at my school. Also, she should have just been grateful she still had a job as a home ec teacher, no matter who was using "her" classroom! I also had my standard grievance with a parent experiencing loss and neglecting her family as a result; I have decided to blame our culture and its expectations involving death rather than particular books. It's just always hard for me personally to read these depictions.

What I really think: This is a great addition to books with cultural connections by two #ownvoices authors working together, like Weeks and Varadarajan's Save Me a Seat and Rosenberg and Shang's This is Just a Test. ...more

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Jan 28, 2020 Laurie added it

Shelves: read-in-2020

I’ve been looking forward to reading Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan’s co-written middle grade novel, A PLACE AT THE TABLE, for a while now, so I was very excited to get to read an ARC! I really enjoyed this story about the friendship that forms between two sixth graders—Sara, a Pakistani American girl, and Elizabeth, a white, Jewish girl who has a British mom. The girls end up in a South Asian cooking class for very different reasons; Sara is there because her mom is the teacher, and Elizabeth ...more

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Feb 10, 2020 Carrie rated it really liked it

Shelves: middle-grade, realistic-fiction, social-justice

This follows a group of sixth grade students in a South Asian cooking club who use food to build bridges between cultures. It can be read as a story about friendship growing pains, but there's also threads about the ways parental issues like depression, work travel, and debt spiral down to their kids and it also deals with the way to approach and handle friends with bigoted opinions. This can feel instructional at times, but kids who like a feel-good story that calls out middle school injustice ...more

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Feb 02, 2020 Sara Magnafichi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: middle-grade-books

It has been a true honor to be able to read an advanced copy of this beautiful story, provided to #collabookation by one of the co-author's, Laura Shovan. Publish date is May 12, 2020. This book is an #OwnVoices novel, geared towards ages 10-12, but can definitely go higher than that, written by authors Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan. Sara, who is Muslim, and Elizabeth, who is Jewish, take turns alternating their stories woven through each chapter. They are from different backgrounds, trying to ...more

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Feb 14, 2020 Cheryl rated it it was ok

Shelves: ms-book-club, food-books, jewish, middle-grades, realistic-fiction

2.5 stars

While the book's plot has good built in discussion, I found the book to be only ok. The writing seemed easy, even for a middle grade book and the plot was predictable.

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Jan 18, 2020 Patricia Murphy rated it it was amazing

Beautifully written. Alternating stories woven together of a Pakistan-American teen & British-American teen. how they make choices to be better people. Such a great story we need in our classrooms. Our kiddos will be able to talk and talk and talk about how to support a friend, how differences bring us closer, about friendship, family, fitting-in and food. Special book. ...more

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Dec 30, 2019 Mrs Heidrich rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2019, children-s-middle-grades

Firstly, I would like to thank the publisher for the ARC as well as Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan for writing this beautiful book.

The second thing I'd like to say is make sure you get yours hands on a copy of A Place at the Table! I absolutely loved the alternating voices and how the story between Sara and Elizabeth was woven together. There are so many themes in this book, but I'm going to say that maybe one of the strongest for me was connection in its many different forms both for the ...more

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About Saadia Faruqi

Saadia Faruqi

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Saadia Faruqi is a Pakistani American author, essayist and interfaith activist. She was born in Karachi, Pakistan and currently resides in Houston, TX with her husband and two children. She writes for a number of publications online about the global contemporary Muslim experience. She is editor-in-chief of Blue Minaret, a magazine for Muslim art, poetry and prose. Her short stories have been ...more