This was a reread for me! Meal by Blue Dellliquanti with Soleil Ho was so much better than I remembered!

This passage from Soleil Ho's essay at the end really sums up the main message: “Reducing insect to a spectacle, to a reaction to climate change or industrialized food production, erases the fact that it’s been a meaningful part of many cultures throughout the world. In fact, it’s more likely that the people who don’t eat insects - mainly those in Western Europe and countries in the Anglosphere like the United States - are the weirdos. So when we talk about insects being the “future” of food, we’re also talking about other people’s past and present: it’s only the future for us because we chose to ignore and belittle what was right in front of us all along.” 

In other reviews, I'm seeing folks don't like the uncomfortable conflict of Yarrow being rejected by Chanda. I think it was completely necessary and made the stakes feel high. It made Yarrow do some digging and had the two characters open up to each other about their personal histories with entomaphagy.

If I have any critique, the book wasn't long enough! But that's just because it had all the critical elements that make a book five star for me: body diversity, bugs, cooking, conflict with satisfying resolution, information/facts, bonus content like recipes, midwestern setting, phenomenal art, queer romance and friendship and found family. I want a whole graphic novel series...I want an anthology...I want a podcast...I want an animated TV show!!

I'll be buying this book to add to my library.