Tanya Valentine

Oh how I want to visit a food truck right now?! Being "safe at home" is wonderful and where we should be....but still.....I think I want to hit up Tango's Empanada truck as soon as this is over!

Little Taco Truck has a prime space in the city and so many beloved customers. But then Annie's Arepas shoes up. And Miss Falafel. And so many others. Little Taco Truck struggles with sharing his space. He doesn't feel like he will be seen anymore. So he doesn't want the other food trucks around.

Yet this story is a friendship story. It's about sharing. It's about compromise. And it's also a homage to the beauty of food! I love the thought of exposing readers to foods they might not have ANY awareness of. What would have been good is to include recipes for arepas, gumbo, etc. It would be a perfect extension!!… (more)

A humble little taco truck is dismayed when other food trucks start coming to "his" street. He's worried that people will like their food (falafel, arepas, gumbo, tapas, gelato) better than his, and that he won't have a place to park. At last he hits on a solution: he'll get to the city at night and stake out his spot before the others get there. When they do, they apologize for not making room earlier, "And when Oodles of Noodles arrived the next day, they made room for her, too."

A glossary explains the pronunciation and definition of the different types of foods. The arepas, falafel, and noodle trucks use female pronouns, while the taco, gumbo, and gelato trucks use male pronouns.

Themes: entitlement, making room for everyone, diverse food choices, gentrification, problem-solving

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Re-read July 2020

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Re-read May 2021

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Re-read June 2021… (more)