A Spoonful of Time A Novel

When You Reach Me meets Love Sugar Magic in this unforgettable middle grade novel where time travel, family recipes, and family secrets collide.

There’s something almost magical about the way Maya’s grandmother cooks--and although Halmunee may be losing her memory, she always knows how to make the most delicious gimbap. Maya doesn’t remember her family’s old life in Korea, but she learns new recipes and stories when they cook together–stories that Maya's mom would prefer stayed in the past, especially if they involve Maya’s father.
 
One summer day, as Maya and Halmunee are making patbingsu, something unbelievable happens: a single delicious bite transports Maya and Halmunee back in time, into the memory itself. Halmunee explains that their family has the ability to time travel through food–and Maya can do it too, if she practices.
 
As she eats her way through the past, Maya tries to unravel the mystery of what life was like in Korea, and what really happened to her dad. She learns that time moves in ways she couldn't imagine ... and that sometimes, families keep secrets to protect the ones they love. Brimming with heart, and interspersed with Korean family recipes that readers can make themselves, this is a story to savor. 

Flora Ahn is an attorney by day and an author and illustrator by night. Her work includes a children's chapter book series, Pug Pals (Scholastic) and an Audible Original, The Golden Orchard. Raised in California by her Korean immigrant parents, Ahn lives in Virginia with her two pugs and practices law in DC.