This compact cookbook offers young adults affordable options for feeding themselves on their journeys to independence.
The first of four sections aims to build culinary confidence in the novice cook, interspersing recipes (for example, avocado toast, grilled cheese sandwiches, pasta, and chocolate chip cookies) with food-preparation principles, safety, and techniques (such as tips on knife handling). Recipes in “Dorm Room Dining,” most requiring only a microwave oven and access to a refrigerator, range from variations on ramen noodles to gourmet popcorn crowd pleasers for feeding hungry friends. For those living with roommates, the third section offers heartier, more complex, but still budget-conscious choices (e.g., bean chili and options for using a rotisserie chicken) and includes practical tips on shared-kitchen etiquette. The final section, “First Solo Kitchen,” presents more sophisticated dishes, including bruschetta, risotto, braised pork, and lemon pound cake. As the recipes progress in complexity, photo-illustrated culinary techniques are introduced—e.g., caramelizing onions, deep frying, and braising. The lively, colorful layout packed with useful tips is a plus, as are the plentiful hacks, simple variations that accompany most recipes. Recipes geared to impecunious students honor today’s dorm life and shared-housing realities. Each section includes annotated lists of ingredients and kitchen tools required. Reliance on processed foods is limited. There are vegetarian options but fewer for vegans.
Breezy but thoughtful, a timely, practical resource for newbie cooks. (index, blank pages for notes, photo credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5415-7854-8
Page Count: 168
Publisher: Zest Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
Categories: TEEN NONFICTION
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A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Categories: TEEN NONFICTION | TEEN SOCIAL THEMES | TEEN BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
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As she does in previous volumes—Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing (2008) and The Grammar Devotional (2009)—Fogarty affects an earnest and upbeat tone to dissuade those who think a grammar book has to be “annoying, boring, and confusing” and takes on the role of “grammar guide, intent on demystifying grammar.”
Like many grammar books, this starts with parts of speech and goes on to sentence structure, punctuation, usage and style. Fogarty works hard to find amusing, even cheeky examples to illustrate the many faux pas she discusses: "Squiggly presumed that Grammar Girl would flinch when she saw the word misspelled as alot." Young readers may well look beyond the cheery tone and friendly cover, though, and find a 300+-page text that looks suspiciously schoolish and isn't really that different from the grammar texts they have known for years (and from which they have still not learned a lot of grammar). As William Strunk said in his introduction to the first edition of the little The Elements of Style, the most useful grammar guide concentrates attention “on a few essentials, the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated.” After that, “Students profit most by individual instruction based on the problems of their own work.” By being exhaustive, Fogarty may well have created just the kind of volume she hoped to avoid.Pub Date: July 5, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8943-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
Categories: TEEN NONFICTION
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