A Place at the Table

Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss racial discrimination and antisemitism.

Sara hates cooking. She hides in a rear corner of a Maryland school family and consumer sciences classroom, where her mother now teaches the cooking club. She endeavors to remain unnoticed because she does not want to be associated with her mother. Sara is embarrassed that her mother, who has lived in the US for decades, still has a robust Pakistani accent. Her mother tries to gain control of the classroom, but the students—predominantly white—disrespect her by insinuating they cannot understand her and that she has nothing to teach them. The only person who does not participate in the bullying is Elizabeth. Elizabeth peers at Sara curiously, but Sara is not interested in making friends. Sara returns to her art project, using facial expressions to inform Elizabeth that she has no interest in friendship.

Elizabeth comes from an English family. Her mother does not cook unless necessary, and her brothers still make fun of her about a Stilton cheese scrambled eggs incident; therefore, she takes a cooking class to learn how to cook. She wants to take the class with her best friend, Maddy Montgomery.