October 17, 2022
Two teenagers whose families run rival bakeries must team up to preserve their businesses in Carvalho’s quotidian, Brazil-set rom-com debut. Seventeen-year-old Larissa “Lari” Ramires has always known she was meant to take over Salt, her family’s savory-dessert-focused bakery, which has been passed down for generations. But every time Lari tries to bake, “something really wrong” happens, leading her to believe she has no culinary skills, and no future at Salt. Grief over her beloved grandmother’s death, her mother’s insistence that she pursue a dreary career as an accountant, and competition from Sugar, the rival bakery across the street run by the Molinas, further complicate matters. When an elite supermarket chain threatens the livelihoods of all the small businesses in the area, Lari enlists 17-year-old Pedro Molina to help drive away the supermarket and keep their establishments running, but they’ll have to overcome their families’ prejudices against one another and navigate burgeoning romantic feelings of their own. Carvalho employs theatrical prose, familiar plot beats, telenovela-feeling dialogue, and an ebullient protagonist to examine themes of gentrification, grief, familial obligation, and rich entitlement, making for a charming read. Ages 13–up. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency.
November 1, 2022
Grades 8-12 Lari Ramires comes from a long line of bakers and aspires to join their ranks at Salt, her family's bakery in Olinda, Brazil. Across the street is rival bakery Sugar, which is owned by the Molinas, who have been the Ramires' enemies for generations. Hostilities rise when an aggressive supermarket chain starts forcing neighborhood businesses to close their doors. After an incident places Lari in an after-school cooking club headed by classmate Pedro Molina, Lari begins to formulate a plan: if the two of them team up--after all, he is cute--they could bring their families together and stand up to big business. With nods to Romeo and Juliet, Carvalho uses the enemies-to-reluctant-allies thread to pull the story along while setting up a delectable romance. Although the families fight frequently and tears flow excessively, the author's use of her own hometown offers a sweet authenticity to the proceedings. Multigenerational family dynamics, profound grief, and the timely struggle of small businesses to stay afloat against big-business encroachment make this debut a layered, delicious read.
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February 3, 2023
Gr 9 Up-In this debut YA romance, locally owned businesses in Olinda, Brazil confront the big, bad, evil corporation that sabotages them, ultimately pitting small businesses against one another. Such is the case for Salt, a bakery that sits across the street from Sugar, the rival bakery. The divide and conquer strategy seeps into the lives of young people who have hopes and dreams rooted in their families' bakeries. Lari, from Salt, and Pedro, from Sugar, take this feud into the kitchen, and the slow sizzle delightfully becomes romance. While the romance development between these rivals is fun, equally important topics the author explores are predatory speculating, gentrification, and how big chain supermarkets sanitize food culture. The book shows how recipes handed down generationally are transmissions of love, family history, and culture, not just food. The communities struggle to hold onto this part of their culture, and the next generation picks up where the previous one left off. But this generation has new tools at their disposal to help our heroes-Lari and Pedro-succeed in saving their bakeries, their cultures, their families, and their budding love. Victor, a friend, is a food blogger, and social media becomes the tool for advertising. And of course, the romance is not complete until the two bakeries merge. VERDICT A fun read that will have readers cheering for the courage and love of the two protagonists.-Stephanie Creamer
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Starred review from September 1, 2022
Two bakeries in the fair city of Olinda, Brazil, are rivals--and two teens fall in love while fighting for their livelihoods. Lari Ramires grieves the recent passing of her beloved grandmother, her absence deeply felt everywhere, especially in the now-empty spot she occupied in Salt, their family's bakery. Already struggling to make ends meet thanks to fierce competition with Sugar, the bakery across the street owned by the Molinas, their longtime enemies, the family business takes an even bigger hit when supermarket chain Deals Deals starts driving small businesses to close. Lari finds herself at a crossroads, wanting to help with the bakery but under strict guidance from her mother to concentrate on her studies so that she can be the first Ramires to go to university. To protect Salt, she may do the unthinkable: reach out to Pedro, the Molinas' teen son, to see if they can work together to save their bakeries. Can Pedro and Lari overcome decades of familial mistrust to work together? Brazilian author Carvalho's novel is a sweet, charming story that sets its perfectly seasoned enemy-to-lovers tale in the diverse region of northeastern Brazil. As Pedro and Lari's connection develops, their romance is enriched by the ways they find their own voices despite the weight of family expectations, grief, and financial distress. A delectable rom-com debut. (Romance. 14-18)
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