An Appetite for Miracles

by Laekan Zea Kemp

Genres: YA Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

Award-winning author Laekan Zea Kemp’s heart-wrenching novel-in-verse follows two teens who must come together to heal the pain from their pasts, perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo and Nicola Yoon.
 
Danna Mendoza Villarreal’s grandfather is slowly losing himself as his memories fade, and Danna’s not sure her plan to help him remember through the foods he once reviewed will be enough to bring him back. Especially when her own love of food makes her complicated relationship with her mother even more difficult.

Raúl Santos has been lost ever since his mother was wrongly incarcerated two years ago. Playing guitar for the elderly has been his only escape, to help them remember and him forget. But when his mom unexpectedly comes back into his life, what is he supposed to do when she isn’t the same person who left?

When Danna and Raúl meet, sparks fly immediately and they embark on a mission to heal her grandfather...and themselves. Because healing is something best done together—even if it doesn’t always look the way we want it to.

Release date: April 4, 2023

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Print pages: 384

Sample

Danna

ALPHABET SOUP

When I was little

you fed me

alphabet soup.

You placed the spoon

in my hand,

showed me how

to swirl the letters,

scoop them up.

D for Danna.

G for Grandpa.

I used my tongue

to mash

the shapes

against the roof of

my mouth

while you

sounded out

each one.

You showed me

how to move

them

like

constellations.

How to stack them.

Line them up.

Jiggling puzzle pieces.

You showed me

how to ignite

their sounds

on the tip of my tongue.

How to roll

them around

between my cheeks;

chew

on them

between my teeth.

In the bottom of that bowl

we wrote

poems.

We told

stories.

And I know

if you could just

close your eyes,

if you could just

feel

those textures

on your

tongue,

if

you could just

taste

those memories…

Salty.

Sour.

Bittersweet.

You could remember me.

 

SHADOW PUPPETS

 

Mami’s making dinner,

which is never

a good sign.

But Papi’s working late tonight

and

Mami’s trying

to write poems

too.

To arrange the ingredients

just right.

Using my grandmother’s

old recipe cards

to start

a fire

in Grandpa’s belly;

to light the way

to his heart,

memories like

shadow puppets

on the walls of

his mind.

“Hand me the pomegranate,” she says

with one hand raised.

I watch her break

it open and

I remember once

Grandpa

told me that

the apple Eve plucked

from the Tree of

Knowledge

was

probably

actually

a pomegranate.

As Mami sprinkles the seeds

on top of

the walnut sauce,

I pray there is still

knowledge

in them.

I pray.

I peer

over her shoulder

and say, “He doesn’t like parsley.”

She doesn’t look at me.

“You can’t have chiles en nogada without parsley.

It needs to look like the Mexican flag.”

So he’ll remember,

I almost hear

her think.

So that if the ingredients

aren’t

stacked

just

right,

maybe

the

will

be

the

thread.

Tying him back to when he was a boy.

“Are you hungry, Dad?”

Mami puts the plate in front of him.

His spine

curves.

A question

mark.

And then I take his hand.

Help him

hold

the fork

like

he helped me

hold

that spoon.

I help him

eat

Mami’s poem.

One bite

at

a

time.

DEAR GOD

I know our

relationship

is not

supposed to be

transactional.

But.

You are

the one

who invented

an eye for an eye,

so,

maybe

I can

entice you

with

a good deal.

Grandpa believes in you.

Like, a lot.

He always used to tell me to pray to you when I was scared.

He said you were always watching over us

and that all of our blessings come from you.

I’m not so sure about that.

When I won

the class spelling bee

in sixth grade

it was because I studied

for two months straight.

Not divine intervention.

And when I finally

learned to doggy paddle

it was because I practiced

every weekend

for an entire summer

(after Mami threw me into the pool

and told me

to sink

or swim).

Okay,

maybe

it was you

who dragged me

back to the surface

that day

when I thought

I was going to drown.

In fact,

I am willing to

commit

this to memory;

to convince

myself

you saved me.

I am willing to believe,

If

you promise

to fix this mess,

and put my grandpa

back together.

For this,

I will give you my soul

and

my cousin Victoria’s too.

(I can be very convincing,

I promise.)

I hear

you like souls.

And mine

is pretty

awesome.

Love,

Danna