With the Fire on High

With the Fire on High

• Genre: Fiction; young adult; coming-of-age
• Originally Published: 2019
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 810L; grades 9-12
• Structure/Length: 3 parts; 113 chapters; approx. 400 pages; 7 hours, 27 minutes on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Emoni Santiago, a teenage mother with a passion for cooking, enrolls in a culinary arts class during her senior year of high school and embarks on a journey of self-discovery.  
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Sexual references; alcohol; teen pregnancy

Elizabeth Acevedo, Author

• Bio: Lives in Washington, DC; graduated from The George Washington University with a BA in Performing Arts and from the University of Maryland with an MFA in Creative Writing; is a National Poetry Slam Champion
• Other Works: Clap When You Land (2020); The Poet X (2018)
• Awards: Golden Kite Award (2020); Michael L. Printz Award (2019); Pura Belpré Award (2019); Walter Award (2019); National Book Award for Young People’s Literature (2018)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• Heterogenous Identity, Prejudice, and Roots
• Rules, Recipes, and Self-Creation
• Colonialism, Coexistence, and Integration

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Gain an understanding of the cultural and social contexts regarding the prejudice that Emoni faces.
• Read and study short paired texts and other resources to make connections on themes of Heterogenous Identity, Prejudice, and Roots; Rules, Recipes, and Self-Creation; and Colonialism, Coexistence, and Integration.