Fatima Tate Takes the Cake

May 15, 2023
Despite her dream of becoming a pâtissier, 17-year-old Fatima Tate knows that she must adhere to her parents’ wishes that she enter a suitable marriage and pursue a practical career. So she often bakes in secret, usually at the soup kitchen where she volunteers with her crush, charming college student Raheem. Unbeknownst to her parents, Fatima forges her mother’s signature to enter a teen baking competition and pursues a physically intimate relationship with Raheem. While she feels guilty about her mistruths, fate seems to be on Fatima’s side when her parents reveal that they’ve arranged her marriage to Raheem. As soon as the couple are engaged, however, Raheem turns controlling and manipulative. Hoping to preserve her family’s reputation within their close-knit Muslim community, Fatima silently endures Raheem’s emotional abuse, until he pushes back on her culinary dreams. Even as she struggles to gain control of her life, Fatima is a fierce protagonist who will stop at nothing to preserve her dignity. Skillful examinations of the intersections between culture, gender, and religion, as well as nuanced perceptions of one Black Muslim community, round out VanBrakle’s searing debut. Ages 14–up.