Tracey Badua, author of “Freddie vs. The Family Curse,” https://amazingartists.online/freddie-vs-the-family-curse-by-tracy-badua/ brings us another middle school novel featuring Filipino culture and cuisine.

This was a story that I didn’t know I wanted. Why am I just now learning that Filipino folk healing is a thing? My dad is Filipino. I should know about this. It’s my own fault for not learning about my Filipino heritage. Unfortunately, the story only skims the surface of Filipino folk healing. Most of the story is about Mila stressing about fitting into Coral Beach and her Filipino culture. My feelings about fitting in can be summed up in this quote from Mila:

“It’s not my responsibility to mold myself into what people think I should be.”

I had no trouble believing that the celebrity twins would steal someone else’s recipes and pass them off as their own. People plagiarize other people’s work all the time. They can’t think of anything themselves, so they steal from others that do. It makes me sick how some people think they can get away with anything because they are famous and have a lot of money. Mila’s anger towards the Fab Foodie Brothers is entirely understandable. If someone was passing off my artwork and characters as their own, I’d be devastated.

Filipino and Indian food seems like a weird combination to me, but I’m not adventurous when it comes to food, so what do I know. I had fun looking up all the Filipino and Indian foods mentioned. My favorite was the Turon Lassi, a smoothie-like mix between Filipino fried banana spring rolls and a creamy sweet yogurt Indian drink. My dad would eat this. He loves fried bananas. I admire Mila’s passion for food and her excellent sense of taste. Hearing her describe the flavors of what she was eating made me hungry.

I hope Tracy Badua will write a sequel that dives more into Filipino folk healing.