Pirate Patty Reviews

Meet Penelope Prado who works like crazy at her father’s restaurant. Nacho’s Tacos. It’s a mix between a bar and a great Mexican food place. The entire family works insane hours to support themselves and a lot of people in the community.

Her parents don’t want that life for her. They want her to be a nurse or something stable. So she enrolls in college and pretends to go. Because Pen has her own plans. To take over the restaurant and make it more. Specifically a bakery. She already is known for her food and especially her baking. She adds that secret ingredient only people who love baking can add. Love.

Pen has had demons in her past that have left her feeling unsure of herself and what she controls. When she finally works up the nerve to tell her parents that she hasn’t actually been going to classes. Not once. Because she wants to have the restaurant that her brother is managing.

Pen’s parents are not happy and she doesn’t get the restaurant and she doesn’t get to keep her job. She’s on her own.

Xander came to this country at nine years old. His mother left, his father left and all he has is his grandfather. And fear. Lots of fear. He is undocumented and lives in the shadows, constantly afraid someone will find out.

When he comes to work at the restaurant, he and Pen are instantly interested in each other. They share their deepest secrets and fears. Together they just may be able to save themselves and a lot of other people they love.

This is a YA book and I cried and was saddened by the treatment of immigrants in this story. It’s all true. We see it everyday on the news. This was a beautiful and timely book that I enjoyed very much.

Little, Brown, And Company