Marc Aronson and Paul Freedman invite readers to the table to explore "American history through key meals and moments" in the fascinating and digestible Bite by Bite. Sibert Medal winner Aronson (Four Streets and a Square; Sugar Changed the World), inspired by Freedman's (American Cuisine) food-and-history research, asked him to collaborate. They proffer 12 dishes, each a chapter, for a closer look at food's role in uncovering "the true histories" of American cuisine.
This literary feast begins in the Pacific Northwest in 10,000 BCE with the First Salmon Feast at Celilo Falls, an enduring Native American foodway celebration, and extends over time and geographic regions to end with the modern farm-to-table movement. Between these full-circle examinations, the authors consider immigrant influences and "eating as a form of exploring another culture" as well as the evolution of chain dining. Each chapter includes full-page artwork and a "Side Dish" that considers an ancillary topic, such as food trucks following a chapter on Howard Johnson's.
The authors consulted with four others--Tatum Willis, David Zheng, Amanda Palacios, and Dr. Frederick Douglass Opie--who have "direct knowledge" about the "food cultures" explored in this intellectual (rather than gastronomic) exercise. Although mid-chapter transitions are frequently bumpy, juicy tidbits of food history should whet appetites of those interested in anthropology and food ethnography. Digital grayscale illustrations by Toni D. Chambers show people in the act of cooking and enjoying food, adding visual context for younger readers. We are what we eat, and this middle-grade work of nonfiction dishes out some enticing morsels to frame culinary history. --Kit Ballenger, youth librarian, Help Your Shelf