Recipe for Disaster

‘Recipe for Disaster’ by Aimee Lucido is a heartwarming, deliciously enjoyable book about the beauty and trouble that come with family, food, and religion, to name but a few themes. When Hannah goes to Shira’s Bat Mitzvah, she intends to be happy for her best friend. Everything goes wrong, though, when everyone, including Shira, claims that Hannah isn’t really Jewish. She doesn’t practice Judaism or go to Hebrew School, or come to synagogue on Saturdays. This begins to irk Hannah to no end, and she decides, then and there at Shira’s Bat Mitzvah party, that she is going to have a Bat Mitzvah. Mostly she does it out of spite for Shira not believing she could do it, but as she gets more and more into the idea, she comes to really love it. She starts studying with her Aunt Yael, her mother’s sister, who so happens to be the rabbi at Congregation Beth Shalom where Shira had her Bat Mitzvah. The problem is that Hannah’s mom doesn’t want anything to do with Yael, her sister. Something happened between them years ago that has effectively ended their relationship, and Hannah is determined to do something to fix it, even though she doesn’t know what the trouble is and how to truly mend it.

Hannah’s grandmother, Mimi, lives with Hannah’s family, and while Mimi, Hannah, and her brother, Sam, are always baking rugelach, babka, challah, and other delicious Jewish foods, even her own family jokes that they aren’t really Jewish. Hannah wants to change this, so she starts taking Hebrew and Bat Mitzvah lessons with Aunt Yael. In the meantime, she grows in many ways, yet finds herself further than ever from having a relationship with her best friend, Shira. They can’t find a way to bridge the gap between what they believe about Judaism, so Hannah finds a new friend in the meantime, Vee.

When Hannah finds out something interesting about Vee, she mistakenly treats her poorly, much in the way she has been treated when people question her Judaism. She feels terribly, but Vee makes it clear that an apology must be real, and it must be done correctly, meaning that the person who is apologizing fully intends to make it right and never have it happen again.

While relationships suffer as the story goes on, Hannah’s love of Judaism and what it means to her grows substantially. She learns about “tikkun olam,” or “repairing the world,” and she knows that it isn’t just about her, but about how she can help others to make peace as well.

Aimee Lucido has done a fantastic job having her characters ask the questions that are constantly on people’s minds. From “What does it mean to be Jewish?” to “If I didn’t convert, but I do Jewish things and think Jewishly, why am I not Jewish enough?” to “Is being Jewish just about your mother being Jewish first?” there are so many more questions to be discussed. All of the characters find their own truth and work together to engage in apologies that are long overdue. The story is one of growth, not only of each individual’s character, but of the value of conversation to truly understand different perspectives. The story is quick and easy to read, interspersing narration, recipes, and enough questions and answers to get any reader thinking. Highly recommended!