The Townsend family recipe for disaster

Mae Townsend barely knows her father's side of the family, so she travels to North Carolina when she receives news that her paternal grandmother has died. Every year, Mae's father returned to his hometown for the annual July 4th barbecue, and, in an attempt to bond with the Townsends, Mae offers to host the barbecue and figure out Althea's secret macaroni-and-cheese recipe. But Mae is unaware of the significance of the event thanks to a family secret, and she soon finds herself reevaluating everything she thought she knew about the Townsends. In this thoughtful story about family connections, Robinson (The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks, 2022) shares Mae's experiences as a biracial woman separated from her Black family for reasons beyond her control. Mae learns how to stand up for herself and what she needs and to speak out against the microaggressions she has quietly tolerated throughout her life, finding herself in the process. Readers who savor novels about food and family, such as Charmaine Wilkerson's Black Cake (2022), will feel right at home at the Townsend family's table.