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Frying Plantain
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
18 posts | 21 read | 22 to read
Kara Davis is a girl caught in the middle of her Canadian nationality and her desire to be a true Jamaican, of her mother and grandmothers rages and life lessons, of having to avoid being thought of as too faas or too quiet or too bold or too soft. Set in Little Jamaica, Torontos Eglinton West neighbourhood, Kara moves from girlhood to the threshold of adulthood, from elementary school to high school graduation, in these twelve interconnected stories. We see her on a visit to Jamaica, startled by the sight of a severed pigs head in her great aunts freezer; in junior high, the victim of a devastating prank by her closest friends; and as a teenager in and out of her grandmothers house, trying to cope with the ongoing battles between her unyielding grandparents. A rich and unforgettable portrait of growing up between worlds, Frying Plantain shows how, in one charged moment, friendship and love can turn to enmity and hate, well-meaning protection can become control, and teasing play can turn to something much darker. In her brilliantly incisive debut, Zalika Reid-Benta artfully depicts the tensions between mothers and daughters, second-generation Canadians and first-generation cultural expectations, and Black identity and predominately white society.
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SabGinesi
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
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Interesting book I'm starting, about the GTA, can't wait to get into it!

5 likes1 stack add
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Evita
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
Mehso-so

2.5 out of 5

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Mitch
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
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My monthly mystery book subscription has arrived - Amy at Mr Bs always choosing something really interesting for me ! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Mitch Think I might need to use my Mounties book sleeve for this one! @StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego 😍 2y
Oryx Sounds interesting. Also the title is making me hungry. 2y
squirrelbrain It does sound interesting! 2y
See All 6 Comments
MicrobeMom Love it!!! 2y
CaitlinDBurnside Fried Plantains, a Jamaican Delicacy! We served them fried in butter and covered with caramel sauce. My neighbour was Jamaican. Thanks for the memory! 2y
AuthorAnnaBella Currently reading 2y
78 likes1 stack add6 comments
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MsLeah8417
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
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Pickpick

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

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Singout
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
Bailedbailed

I bailed on this one month‘s #Bookspin draw. I don‘t have any specific critiques of it, but it just didn‘t keep me engaged, maybe because it‘s a string of short stories. Also, 2020 is almost over and I want to complete some challenges! I put it on my list because it‘s written and narrated by a young black woman and set in Toronto, and do think it would make a good addition to a high school curriculum.

TheAromaofBooks Sometimes it just isn't the right time for a certain book!!! 3y
3 likes1 comment
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Well-ReadNeck
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
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Mehso-so

Listened on #audiobook from #hoopla

A series of related short stories about a black teen growing up in Toronto whose family is from Jamaica. I recommend the audiobook. The narrator did a lovely job with distinctive voices and accents.

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Kazzie
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
Pickpick

Fast paced, sad and moving coming of age tale

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merelybookish
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
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Pickpick

A collection of interlinked stories about growing up Jamaican-Canadian in Toronto. We follow Kara from elementary school to college as she navigates two cultures as well as friendships, relationships and family dynamics. Available on #hoopla

Amor4Libros I really liked this one! 4y
51 likes4 stack adds1 comment
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kwmg40
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
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My goal for #EasterExtravaganza was to finish as many of these books as I could. I did manage to read Planetfall, Watermark and Frying Plantain. I'm also two-thirds through Beartown, which I'm really enjoying. So I'd call this readathon a success. Thanks, @Andrew65, for hosting and for the encouragement!

Andrew65 Fantastic, well done! 👏👏👏🙌🍾🥂😊 Thanks for playing along. 4y
21 likes1 comment
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jploves2read
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
Pickpick

Told in short stories, this is a wonderful coming of age set in Toronto. I really loved Kara‘s voice. I think her story is in many ways universal and also very significantly unique. I laughed and cried. I would love to know what happens next. 🙂

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Lindy
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
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On my blog, I've compiled another collection of Tim Hortons references in the books I read, including a contribution from @xicanti. Keep alerting me to any sightings, my friends, and I will keep collecting. https://lindypratch.blogspot.com/2020/03/tim-hortons-again-popping-up-in-books-i...

Prairiegirl_reading Omg the great one sounds disgusting!! I know it‘s not very Canadian of me but I‘m not a fan of Tim Hortons. Great list though! 4y
Lindy @Prairiegirl_reading Thanks. I don‘t even drink coffee!🤪 4y
xicanti I think of you whenever I see a Tim Hortons reference! 4y
See All 10 Comments
marleed Oh my gosh, I love that you do that! I often wish that I had tracked the books I read that reference Earnest Hemingway - so many books unrelated to each other. F. Scott Fitzgerald too, but mostly EH. 4y
Hooked_on_books I like their chocolate Timbits. 😋 4y
Lindy @xicanti 🥰 4y
Lindy @marleed You can start now! Never too late. The other (less frequent) thing that I‘ve been tracking is references to trepanation. 🙃 4y
Lindy @Hooked_on_books Timbits are cool. 😎 4y
marleed Haha I should start a #EarnestHemingwayReference on Litsy and you could run #TimHortonsReference ! 4y
Lindy @marleed Sounds like fun! 4y
46 likes10 comments
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RaimeyGallant
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
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Look at the beautiful card and bookmark I got from @Chelleo for #BlitsyHistoryMonthSwap! Featured alongside is my signed copy of Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta, set in Little Jamaica in Toronto and longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. I'm one chapter in and loving it. #BlackHistoryMonthSwap

#FirstLineFridays "On my first visit to Jamaica, I saw a pig's severed head."

Trashcanman 👋🏼👋🏼 4y
Chelleo You‘re welcome! 😊 4y
CarolynM 👋Hey, nice to see you. How's life? 4y
See All 6 Comments
RaimeyGallant @CarolynM Hey! Nice to see you too. I miss being on Litsy more. How are things with you? 4y
CarolynM All good here. Nothing to report which is a good thing in my world 🙂 4y
RaimeyGallant @CarolynM I would take that in a heartbeat. 4y
125 likes3 stack adds6 comments
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Amor4Libros
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
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Pickpick

Great debut for this author! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Rainierbooks
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
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Pickpick

A book that made me hungry. 12 short stories about a Jamaican-Canadian family in Toronto with a lot of humor and brilliant character depictions.

2 likes1 stack add
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Lindy
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
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Pickpick

Kara is of Jamaican heritage & attending school—elementary through undergrad—in contemporary Toronto, making this dialogue-heavy narrative as likely to appeal to teens as adults. Subtitled “Stories,” this seems more of an episodic novel than a series of interconnected short stories. Regardless of its format, it‘s an engaging work exploring difficult mother-daughter relationships & issues of ethnic identity within the African diaspora. #Canadian

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Lindy
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
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“That man have some nerve, Eloise! Hear me say, him have some nerve! Yuh know him always say how him have no money, how him canna give me one, two, t‘ree hundred dollar for the mortgage or for the grocery them. But him have money for that woman? Eh-eh, him must thank God me a Christian woman, that is all me ah say!”

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Lindy
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
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I scowled. We were almost at the main road, Lawrence Avenue, a busy street for traffic but a lonely one for walking--all of civilization was at the strip mall with the Tim Hortons and the big-box Walmart, or else inside the grey apartment buildings that stood, washed-out and faded, beside the sidewalk.

(Littens: I'm continuing to collect Tim Hortons references. Please hit me up if you come across any.)

39 likes1 stack add
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Bookalong
Frying Plantain | Zalika Reid-Benta
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Pickpick

5/5🌟
I loved this book!
I started this book yesterday and finished it this morning!! This collection is so impressive! The way the author has interconnected these stories is superb! She managing to capture growing up caught between two worlds, highlighting complicated mother-daughter relationships cultural differences, and race in such an insightful way. I'm floored! Reccomended Reading for sure!
This is Available Tomorrow!!

CouronneDhiver Sounds like I might relate well. Stacked! 5y
Bookalong @CouronneDhiver Yay!! Hope you love it too!! 😁 5y
9 likes2 comments