Kitchen chaos and coming of age in new YA novel

     For those looking for a unique coming-of-age story to add to their TBR this summer, look no further than Michael Ruhlman’s If You Can’t Take the Heat (which comes out June 4th).
     When high school football star Theo Claverback breaks his leg just weeks after a devastating break-up, he’s forced to call an audible on his summer plans and put his college ones on hold. He soon finds himself in the most unlikely of places for a jock on the kitchen of an upscale French restaurant, where he’ll work as a line cook while his heart and leg heal. But it’s in the kitchen where Theo finds new purpose and a new romance. As he becomes a trusted employee to Chef and is welcomed into his inner circle, Theo begins to discover the true costs of running a restaurant—and what happens when you get into hot water with the wrong people.
Ruhlman takes the setting of 1980s Cleveland and crafts such a wonderful coming-of-age story! With messages of finding a new path in life and how responsibility and hard work can help you grow as a person, I loved Theo’s character and how he grew throughout the novel.
     Having this novel set around a teenage boy working in a restaurant and learning to love cooking was so fascinating and basically felt like all of my favorite cooking shows come to life. Seriously, the descriptions of the food in the book made me so hungry that I was wishing that the food was right in front of me in real life!
     I also loved the misfits that made up the kitchen staff and helped Theo find a home with them. It really helped highlight how integral each and every person in a restaurant matters and makes me even more amazed at how much work goes into creating a menu and cooking!
     This coming-of-age story was so wonderfully written and I cannot recommend it enough!
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*I received an ARC from Penguin Teen in exchange for my honest opinion.

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