• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 7

From Wanda Taylor, a delicious new novel about food, friendship and the power of poetry. For fans of Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan’s A Place at the Table and Jessica Kim’s Stand Up, Yumi Chung!

When Darla Cooper finds her grandmother’s old recipe book in the attic, it is as if her grandmother is speaking to her from beyond the grave. Food is memory. And no one knows this foodie truth better than Darla and her friends.

United by a love of food and a passion for words, Darla and the Food Poets meet at Carol’s Café every week. There they exchange poetry inspired by community and cookery and share these poems with Carol’s customers. As the group drifts through lazy summer days, sharing poem after poem, Darla notes in her grandmother’s book how food brings people together and lights up her imagination. Be it a baby shower, a long-awaited reunion or a wedding, Darla never fails to write down her thoughts alongside her grandmother’s words.

But when Darla loses her grandmother’s book at a food festival, everything seems to fall apart. Darla feels stuck, unable to perform her words as she once did. Was the book the real key to her poetry? And now, worst of all, it seems that Carol’s Café might be headed for a permanent closure. Despite their own troubles, the Food Poets must scramble to find the right words, make the grown-ups listen and save the café!

Wanda Taylor is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, journalist, and college professor.

As an author of fiction and nonfiction, Wanda writes across children's, YA and adult markets. Her next two fiction titles are set for release with HarperCollins Canada in June 2023 and Spring 2024. As a journalist and former television producer, Wanda has written and produced content for film and television. Her magazine features, poems, and essays appear in publications across Canada, the US, and the UK.

As a former Acquisitions Editor, Wanda has acquired and championed titles from emerging and established authors and continues to support the work of new writers as a freelance editor.

In her role as a sensitivity reader, Wanda works with publishers and authors on works in progress to ensure accuracy and authenticity in areas such as race, diversity, cultural history, social work, and trauma.

Wanda currently teaches courses in journalism, communications, and several writing courses. She previously taught journalism courses at King's, where she will continue to serve as a mentor in the MFA Writing and Publishing program.

Wanda Taylor's profile page

"Wanda Taylor is a natural-born storyteller whose lyrical prose delights in A Recipe for Rhyme and Rescue. Through the magical fusion of food and friendship, Taylor reminds us what is possible when it comes to young people standing together. With each recipe and verse, we intuit that food is not just sustenance, but a celebration of community. Her work reminds us that every meal shared is a chance to call in genuine connection and joy." — Chelene Knight, award-winning author of Junie and Let It Go

“A warm bowlful of friendship, family, food and love.” — Sylvia McNicoll, author of Blue to the Sky

“A poetically delicious good read!" — Sadé Smith, author of Julie and the Mango Tree

“I know how much middle graders love to cook AND eat and talk about the stories of our food. Young chefs will devour this book, one bite, I mean, word at a time." — Nadia L. Hohn, author of The Antiracist Kitchen