Reviews for Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet

The average rating for Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-05-11 00:00:00 Rozetta Bridgforth If, by the end of Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet, you're not hoofing it as fast as you can your local chinese or soul food restaurant, you're either dead or anorexic. This book, with all the delicious food being prepared en masse, is a culinary delight...and that's not what it's really about. It starts off with a bang and keeps going as fourteen year-old Ana Shen--the quirky product of a Black mother and a Chinese-American father--is about to give her speech at her junior high graduation when a water main bursts and literally rains on everyone's parade. Since there's to be no more ceremony, the after-graduation dance has also been cancelled. That's a bummer, because Ana wants to invite the smartest and cutest guy in school, Jason Tabata. What to do? Have a well-meaning best friend named Chelsea invite Jason and his family over to Ana's house for a big family dinner. Bad idea? Considering that there are two very strong-willed grandmothers who cannot occupy the same space for any given amount of time, and both of whom have set ideas as to what comprises the perfect meal, Ana sees it as a recipe for disaster. Between her own dumplings that tend to look anything but dumpling-like to the Mixed Rice Disaster (yes, I said "rice") to an uninvited guest named Amanda who wants to make a play for the popular Jason, Ana wonders if she'll survive the get-together with her sanity intact. Add to that mix Jason's disapproving father and stir well. Then run for cover! I loved both sets of grandparents, especially the grandmothers--Olivia and Nai Nai. Both women are loving, stern and feisty--like all grandmothers should be. It's obvious that they adore their children and spoil their grandchildren. And it's obvious that they still don't quite get the whole mixed-marriage thing, but accept it anyway. Ana reads like a savvy fourteen year-old, with all her attendant pre-teen hangups, but she's bright and funny and really loves her mixed-up family. It's nice that Smith doesn't try to dumb down the narrative the way a lot of adult authors these days seem to think makes their books "more accessible". The added bonus of this book is it depicts an L.A. that most people don't ever see or sadly, do not want to. The rich diversity of neighborhood markets in Monterey Park with their wonderful smells of spices, and mentions of University High School is a nice reminder that there's more to Los Angeles than Beverly Hills or the beach. Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet was a quick and enjoyable read.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-07-22 00:00:00 Clara Unterberg A 2009-2010 Sunshine State Book for Grades 6-8. For me, this story was excruciatingly boring. What started out as a promising story of a young girl's infatuation with a guy really panned out to be a long, drawn out story of how to cook and clean amidst family members driving you crazy. However, as I try to do with every book I read, I tried to think about what was positive about the story. For one, I felt it was a realistic portrayal of one dysfunctional family's attempt to prepare for a big graduation/date dinner. Another positive is that as boring as it was for me to get through the heart of the story, I thought the climax of the story was gripping and sent a powerful message to readers about making sure not to judge others based on background or color. Realistically, a lot of biracial couples deal with issues very real and in line with that message. I sympathize with them because it really is ridiculous how so many people completely shut out others simply based on how they look or what backgrounds their families come from. Amazing how many really good potential friends people miss out on because they are too ignorant to see past their natural-born differences.