When Lari Ramires’ grandmother dies after a short illness her family’s bakery Salt which had been struggling to begin with is now passed down to her mother who is a widow and is completely overwhelmed with work and bills. With all this happening their tiny neighborhood of Olinda in Brazil is being stalked by a superstore which is trying to drive all the small businesses out of town.
To add to the anxiety, their rival shop across the street, Sugar, who Pedro Molina’s family owns, and who is Lari’s nemesis as the families have been at war for decades, seems to be spreading terrible rumors about Salt and jobs are being cancelled.
You see, years ago the two bakeries had been one but there was a terrible falling out between the two families and they separated and not only have never spoken again, but take any opportunity to insult each other.
But now that Lari’s grandmother is gone and she wants to help her mother in the bakery, her mother will not have it. She insists Lari be the first Ramires to go to college and go into accounting just as her father did. But Lari does not want this. She wants to bake, but not only does she not know how, she’s can’t even boil water!
When Lari and Pedro suddenly find themselves in an after-school cooking class, where Pedro is the leader things begin to change. The two rivals suddenly find themselves talking (behind their families backs) and learning that they may actually like each other. As they work together, secretly knowing their families would kill them, they soon discover each of the bakeries are at risk of closing.
They concoct a plan to try and save both their bakeries. But unfortunately, the history of the families continues to haunt them. They don’t quite trust each other completely and must somehow work together with this realization. They know what they are about to do will certainly cause chaos in both families, but they are determined to somehow pull it off.
What will happen when the families find out what they are doing? These two families are always on the verge of punishing each other! To know their children are not only speaking but are friends would be devastating. What will they do to Lari and Pedro? Will they ever be allowed to see each other again? They have been through so much separately and together and learned so many lessons they don’t want to never see each other again!
Salt and Sugar is a story of dreams, determination and learning to be who you are. It shows how in some instances children are thrown into adult issues without really understanding why. It explains how just one tiny embarrassing moment can change someone’s life forever. But the true moral of the story is forgiveness.
Lisa's Cubby 