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Review: A Spoonful of Time

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A Spoonful of Time
Written by Flora Ahn
Philadelphia: Quirk Books, 2023. Fiction. 271 pages.

Maya's grandmother is visiting and Maya spends most of the day with her grandmother while her mother is at work. Maya quickly learns that her grandmother likes to cook Korean food and one day as they are eating a Korean dish her grandmother has prepared, she and her grandmother are magically transported back in time. Maya has so many questions after they return home. She learns from her grandmother that some of the women in her family have a special ability to revisit moments from their past using food to time travel to a specific memory. Maya's grandmother can feel the memory, focus on it and visit a place or time from her past. Maya wants so badly to tell her best friend Jada about her discovery, but first she must find out if she also has the gift to cook and travel back in time --because nobody would believe her story unless she could prove that it was true.

A fun aspect of this book is all of the Korean recipes that are sprinkled throughout. Each time Maya's grandmother teaches her something new to cook, the reader can find the recipe and make it at home if they want. This story about culture, family, family secrets, and connections that grow and change throughout a person's life was inspiring and heartwarming. This is a book for anyone who likes cooking, good food, family memories, and Korean cuisine.


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