Trini’s Magic Kitchen

 Written by Patricia Santos Marcantonio

 

ISBN: 979-8-89375-005-8

Format: Trade Paperback

Pages: 217

Imprint: Piñata Books

Ages: 10-15

 

Entertaining novel explores young girl’s family difficulties

alongside new adventures in the kitchen.

  

Trini has just started seventh grade in Denver when her mom loses her job. Money is scarce and they lose their apartment too. The girl must go live with her grandparents in Alamosa until her mother can find work and a place for them to live. She has always considered her grandparents’ house a second home, but the day her mom leaves her there she feels homeless.

Grandma Lydia and Grandpa Frank, who ride motorcycles and listen to rock, are the best, but Trini misses her mom and dreads being the new kid at school. Gradually she adjusts, making another best friend and setting her sights on a cute boy. And when her grandmother discovers Trini can’t cook, she begins teaching her granddaughter how to make traditional Mexican dishes. Through the cooking lessons, the girl learns more about her dad, who died when she was young, and why her mom doesn’t cook.

This warmhearted and entertaining novel about overcoming challenges will resonate with readers facing problems with family and friends. Recipes for the meals made by Trini and her grandparents—including tostadas, green chile enchiladas, calabacitas and albóndigas—are included and will encourage young people to begin their own adventures in the kitchen while learning the value of creating magical dishes for loved ones.

 

PATRICIA SANTOS MARCANTONIO is the author of Best Amigas (Fitzroy Books, 2023), Under the Blood Moon (Dark Ink, 2022), Felicity Carrol and the Murderous Menace (Crooked Lane Books, 2020), Felicity Carrol and the Perilous Pursuit (Crooked Lane Books, 2019), Verdict in the Desert (Arte Público Press, 2016) and Red Ridin’ in the Hood and Other Cuentos (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005). She lives and works in Boise, Idaho.