This is such an enchanting book. Having a young lady learn about her culture and history through food and family, just such a beautiful concept. Food truly does bring us back to moments in time. We may not be able to transport there in the same way as Maya and her family does but knowing that something so simple as a meal can create such a beautiful bridge just reminds us how amazing life can be. The twists and turns in this book make it even more powerful. Finding out one’s history and past is so important. I love having recipes sprinkled throughout this story. It truly makes it book one where those who have no previous connection to the Korean culture, feel like maybe they can try and connect with Maya in a small way. Truly a beautiful book, great representation, and hopefully one that many kids will be able to discover and connect with.
Thank you so much to quirk books and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

An engaging, original story for middle grade readers. Maya is a tween who lives with her single mother and her Korean grandmother. Her mom works a lot, and her grandmother, Halmunee, is old and in the beginning stages of dementia. Oftentimes Maya is the one taking care of her grandparent- not the other way around. There's more to Halmunee than meets the eye, though- through her Korean recipes and a magical touch, she's able to time travel with Maya to scenes of her heritage-which turn out to raise more questions than they answer.

A sweet reflection on family and heritage, this is an amazing book for middle grade readers. The Korean recipes scattered throughout are a tangible (and delicious!!) way to connect with the history and culture of Korea, as well as a delicate exploration of the symptoms of dementia that some readers have or will see with their own loved ones. I will definitely recommend this for purchase, and to my middle grade patrons!

Maya’s grandmother has come to stay with her and her mom. One day, her grandmother shows Maya how to tune travel to different memories using food. Soon, Maya is figuring out how to do this herself.

I thought overall this was a good book, but the end was a bit unsatisfactory.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a sincerely lovely book. I got an advance copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and I'm so glad I did! This was a deeply endearing story about family, love, and loss, and a lot of food. There are recipes sprinkled throughout and I deeply regretted not eating Korean food while reading. A brief list of the good things:

- casual LGBTQIA+ representation!
- complex family relationships and healthy communication
- so. much. beautiful. food.
- adorable illustrations!

There's more, but I don't want to spoil the book. This will be a fantastic read for anyone who likes fantasy, time travel stories, or Korean food. Do yourself a favor and give it a read when it's published!

This was a beautiful family story about multi generational traditions in a modern Korean house hold. The main character forms a bond with her grandmother, who suffers from dementia. Soon the main character, Mia, learns a family secret that connects her to her family history. I especially loved how the chapters connected to a family recipe and the author included the recipe at the end of the chapter. If I were still teaching in the classroom I would have loved to recreate a recipe for my class!

Maya lives with her grandmother, who appears to be declining cognitively, and her mom, who works more than full-time, and doesn't always have a lot of time for Maya. Maya and her grandmother, in some ways, are each other's caregivers. One thing they enjoy doing together is cooking, as Halmunee shows Maya how to cook traditional Korean food. One day, as they are cooking, Halmunee takes Maya time-traveling, and begins to show her pieces of her family history.

It's a pretty cool premise, and as the child of immigrants who would have LOVED it if her grandmother had cooked with her, it really resonated with me. Unfortunately, I didn't think the book lived up to the premise.

There's some effective stuff here. Watching an elder you love decline is something many young readers will relate to, especially if they live in a multi-generational household. Trying to figure out how to be a good friend, and a good daughter/granddaughter is another thing that is portrayed well here.

Pacing, for me, was an issue in this book. I needed things to happen faster than they did, and then when they did start to happen, almost too much happened at once. There's a big twist that didn't totally work for me, as well.
I'm not sure the target audience (10 - 12 year olds) will be able to figure this one out. It's not quite a "real- life" book, but there's a lot of real-life stuff in a time-travel fantasy book. The balance isn't quite there.

Fascinating, tragic..
This was a really quick read and well worth it.
It’s always delightful when a book can surprise me and this one did several times.
However, I have several theories of what could be revealed if there were ever a follow up book. I hope so

I enjoyed reading the multicultural story! I teach English Language learners and am always looking for books for my classroom where students can feel like they are represented in the classroom. I teach second grade so this wouldn’t be a good fit for them but I would definitely recommend it to my colleagues who teach our middle school students.

Maya is just your normal Korean American girl trying to take care of her grandmother Halmunee and connect with her mom. Well.. except that she can travel back to memories from the past by eating her tasty Korean family recipes! Maya is shoved into this new reality of trying to figure out her powers and the secrets her family keeps.

First, let's talk about the first 60% of the book or so. it was a cute idea with likable characters, however, it became extremely repetitive. There was a clear formula.. make a Korean recipe, travel to past memories, have a small family or friend interaction, then repeat. There wasn't a lot going on in between the main scenes of food making and memory traveling. It felt a little info dumpy at times even. I enjoyed seeing her cook with her Halmunee and talking about the recipes and memories of different times they enjoyed those foods. However, I felt like it could have been more enjoyable if it wasn't so formulaic.

Ok, now the last 40% or so. Holy cow! What a plot twist that I never imagined in a million... o snap! There's another one! After we got to the plot twists and unfolding some family secrets, the book got much more interesting and the formula vanished which was really refreshing. It really drew the story in well and made the family make more sense together.

Overall, it was a really cute story and a fun read. Now I need to try some Korean recipes!

Adorable, cozy, and undeniably yummy - this story is a nice warm bowl of soup for your soul! I enjoyed reading about Korean culture and food as well as seeing Maya’s cute illustrations throughout. I especially appreciate how we got all the recipes because withholding that information after Ahn’s descriptions would be practically a crime!

Unfortunately, the story itself had some foundational flaws. For one, Maya and her friend Jada read younger than middle school. I think upper elementary students would relate more to them than actual middle schoolers. However, this is a small issue compared to Ahn’s time traveling system. Maybe I just needed a map, but the time traveling elements were very confusing, particularly after the big revelation regarding Halmunee. I got the movie theater analogy, but the rules concerning the past AND future lost me and I fear it would lose a lot of young readers too.

The realization that Halmunee didn’t actually have dementia also didn’t sit well with me; Kids who have loved ones suffering from this awful, incurable disease will want to relate to Maya, but it turns out Halmunee doesn’t have dementia at all and everything is returned to normal. I fear this will leave kids who at first formed a connection with Maya stranded and still looking for non-existing solutions rather than companionship.

Thank you to NetGalley, Flora Ahn, and Quirk Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A family that can travel back in time to memories based around the food they ate at the time. Maya is learning from her grandmother, but in the present the grandmother suffers from serious mental issues and the mom has thrown herself into work. Maya struggles with friends and family, present and past, and wants nothing more than to remember anything about her father that her mom refuses to talk about. The food that sparks the memories of the past are included in the book. Maya is an interesting character trying to be more adult than she needs to be because of her fractured family. A sweet, fun read.

What a beautiful cover!

Unfortunately inside it is a little too challenging for the age it is written for. The topic is very interesting though ;)

I enjoyed this book far more than I thought I would! Easy to read and a lovely twist to the story. I loved the inclusions of the recipes throughout.

I received an electronic ARC from Quirk Books through NetGalley.
Time travel with some twists. Maya has not known her grandmother until she arrives one day. Halmunee simply shows up and offers Maya the attention her mother is not providing. It's through this connection that Maya travels back to the past to see her Halmunee when she was younger. The interesting part of their travels is that food is the conduit. They eat certain Korean foods and travel back to memories they bring. I appreciate Ahn providing the recipes after each cooking chapter. Readers can make the dishes with their own families. She also offers a few twists on who characters are and the secrets they keep.
The story feels abrupt at some points but offers readers a look at family dynamics and how secrets from the past affect current relationships.

A heartwarming tale of food and family, with twists that you couldn't imagine.

I really enjoyed the inclusion of recipes within this, for young readers it not only introduces them to Korean food but gives them a way to create it for themselves.

Young readers will enjoy this story of culture, food, and family and it’s elements of time travel. There were moments where the story lagged or events seemed unnecessary, but overall it was an enjoyable story.

This was a great fantasy story steeped in Korean culture. I loved how Flora Ahn used a fun fantasy to help young readers delve into deeper themes. This fast-paced story will be a hit with middle grade readers.

A Spoonful of Time is a great mix of time-travel, mystery, friendship, and family dynamics. Maya balances her "home Maya" and "friend Maya" as she navigates the different expectations and interactions. As she gets to know Halmunee (grandmother) and feels ignored by her mother, she gets to know the stories of her family, As she learns family secrets and abilities, she strengthens her bonds within her family and learns to find strength within and finds how she fits in the middle of it all. I will definitely be buying this for my school library and recommending to 4th graders!

When Maya's Halmunee (grandmother) shows up unexpectedly one day, things begin to change for Maya. Her mom starts working longer and longer hours and Maya is expected to watch over Halmunee in addition to her regular responsibilities, but most of all, Halmunee begins to teach Maya to cook. As they make an enjoy traditional Korean dishes, Maya discovers the her family has a talent - they can travel back in time and observe their own memories through food. Halmunee insists that Maya has the talent, too. As Maya begins to work on developing her abilities, she discovers closely held family secrets. Is she strong enough to handle them?

I really liked Maya, she was realistic and spunky and believable. Most of the side characters were also relatable. It was an enjoyable read. One star marked down for the <spoiler>random LGBTQ stuff thrown in at the end that felt like queer baiting (added unnecessarily and out of the blue just so the author could say there was an LGBTQ character when nothing else in the entire book indicated that and it had absolutely nothing to do with the plot of the book)</spoiler> and the lack of explanation about traveling forward in time as well as back.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read that gives a peek into the cultural importance of food and family. Definitely recommended.


Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I loved this one! I was expecting a sweet story about family & shared memories, with some great descriptions of Korean food, and I got that. I also got a fantastic time travel story, with some twists that I really didn't expect. The big one actually made me put the book down and stare into space for a minute - I was so delighted by it! I would've loved this as a kid, and I love it now. And who knows, maybe I'll even try out some of the recipes - they certainly sounded pretty great!