• 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 the author of both fiction and non-fiction books for children and adult readers. She is also a freelance journalist, screenwriter and college instructor. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications such as Atlantic Books Today, Black2Business magazine and Peak Magazine. Her poems and essays have also been published in anthologies across Canada, the US and the UK. Wanda Taylor teaches courses in journalism, story writing for media, and communications. She is also the mentor for the MFA Creative Nonfiction program at the University of King’s College.

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