Sizzle

Linda Delgado is Hispanic girl living with her aunt Elba and helping her aunt run her restaurant. All this changes suddenly when Elba begins to have health problems.  Elba arranges for Linda to move from her Arizona home to Pittsburgh with a cousin that already has a large family.  Linda's love of cooking healthy foods is challenged when her new "mom" Pat makes food only from cans.  Pat is the star of a local cooking show and she and Linda have very different opinions about what makes food tasty. Linda faces other issues as well - being in a new family with a step-sister who isn't nice to her, and being interested in a boy from school.

I appreciate that Sizzle is a novel that presents some real problems in a way that is not too preachy. The novel has nothing inappropriate in it, either, so even though Linda is a teenager, younger readers could easily enjoy this book.  The storyline is fairly predictable, which bothered me at times as an adult reader, but is something that tween readers will no doubt overlook. Overall, a very enjoyable read.