Books like Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet by Sherri L. Smith
Ana Shen, a biracial student with a Chinese‑American father and an African‑American mother, faces the challenge of bringing her multicultural family together for eighth‑grade graduation. With both sets of grandparents traveling to Los Angeles for the celebration and a request from her best friend to invite the school’s cutest boy, Ana and her family have four hours to cook a memorable meal. As Grandma White and Nai Nai clash over recipes, Ana feels torn between her parents’ heritage, but when they finally sit down to share her hot, sour, salty, and sweet dishes, she discovers that the different flavors—and her family’s diverse traditions—fit perfectly together.
First publish date: 2008
Genre: Coming of Age/Childhood Coming of Age
Authors: Sherri L. Smith
★
★
★
★
★
0.0 (0 community ratings)
How are these books recommended?
The books recommended for Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet by Sherri L. Smith are shaped by reader interaction. Votes on how closely books relate, user ratings, and community comments all help refine these recommendations and highlight books readers genuinely find similar in theme, ideas, and overall reading experience.
Have you read any of these books?
Your votes, ratings, and comments help improve recommendations and make it easier
for other readers to discover books they’ll enjoy.
Books similar to Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet (14 similar books)
Two lifelong friends, Nel and Sula, navigate friendship, betrayal, and the changing landscapes of Medallion, Ohio, as they grow into very different women.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Jennifer 8 Lee explores how Chinese food and restaurants shape the Chinese‑American experience and American society through history, sociology, and personal narrative.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
A young woman must uncover the secrets of her family and loved ones to prevent the end of the world in an exciting fantasy story.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
After her husband's death, American food writer Maggie McElroy learns a paternity claim has been filed in China against his estate. She travels to Beijing to investigate, interviewing a half‑American, half‑Chinese chef and uncovering unexpected truths.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Seventh‑grade Alice navigates the trials of junior‑high life while offering love‑life advice to her father and older brother.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Sixteen-year-old Travis Coates wakes to a new body after his head is restored in a cryogenics experiment. Though his age remains, he and everyone around him are living in a vastly altered reality.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
The emotional turmoil of a teenage girl forced to keep a horrific secret keeps her isolated from friends and herself, while she obsesses about weight loss and longs for friendship with her boyfriend, Corey 'The Living Stoner', who leads a double life as a stoner and a vegetarian vegan.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
After a cyberbullying scandal that nearly drives a classmate to suicide, mean‑spirited Nikki Baylor is expelled and ostracized. A whirlwind friendship with energetic wheelchair‑rugby player Pax offers her redemption and a chance at a new life.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Ten‑year‑old Albie, feeling overlooked at school, learns to recognize his own talents with the help of a warm new nanny who inspires him to embrace his strengths.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
High school friends Tara, Whitney Blaire, and Pinkie confront personal and interpersonal challenges, including Tara’s unexpected attraction to a girl whom Whitney disdains.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Ava wrestles with identity and acceptance as she tries to reinvent herself, only to discover that true belonging is far more complex than a wardrobe change.
Similar?
✓ Yes
0
✗ No
0
Some Other Similar Books
Sweet Lemon Spice by Indu SuryanSalty Life by Catherine M. Wilson
The Chinese Takeout Cookbook by Vivien Kong
The Food of Taiwan by Debra Hart Rothenberg
The Asian Gourmet by Corinne Trang
Savoring the East by Laura Kelley
The Sriracha Cookbook by William G. M. Dooling
Taste of China by Kenneth T. Ting
Have a similar book in mind? Let others know!
Please login to submit books!