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Taco Tuesdays: A Wish Novel
Nacho average foodie WISH book! Mónica Mancillas explores themes of family, food, and identity wrapped up in a sweet, commercial title.
Dulce doesn’t want to spend the summer helping at her family’s restaurant, but with the business needing all the help it can get, she doesn’t have a choice.
Julian doesn’t want to be in California. But his food vloger parents have relocated the family as part of an attempt to keep their marriage going, so he doesn’t have a choice, either.
When the two literally crash into each other, it’s so not the beginning of a beautiful friendship. But as they’re both forced to enroll in a cooking class together and slowly get to know each other, things get heated—and not just the tacos! Julian and Dulce each have something to learn from the other about friendship, family, community, and food.
Dulce doesn’t want to spend the summer helping at her family’s restaurant, but with the business needing all the help it can get, she doesn’t have a choice.
Julian doesn’t want to be in California. But his food vloger parents have relocated the family as part of an attempt to keep their marriage going, so he doesn’t have a choice, either.
When the two literally crash into each other, it’s so not the beginning of a beautiful friendship. But as they’re both forced to enroll in a cooking class together and slowly get to know each other, things get heated—and not just the tacos! Julian and Dulce each have something to learn from the other about friendship, family, community, and food.
- GenresRomanceRealistic Fiction
272 pages, Paperback
Published January 7, 2025
10 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Mónica Mancillas
8 books39 followersMónica Mancillas is a musician and educator who authors picture books and Middle Grade fiction and non-fiction. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley. Her award-winning books include MARIANA AND HER FAMILIA, THE WORRY BALLOON, HOW TO SPEAK IN SPANGLISH, SING IT LIKE CELIA, TACO TUESDAYS, and LEYENDAS/LEGENDS (Chronicle, 2025).
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 27, 2024
I’ve read several of the middle grade “romance” books in Scholastic’s Wish series and have not been terribly impressed—too giggly girl, sappy first love for me. However, sixth grade girls love them so I have purchased quite a number for my library. Taco Tuesday has a romance side, but it also contains a realistic look at the heartache of parents who are separated and contemplating divorce, dealing with fellow students who just irritate you and finding a way to put aside the irritations of a know-it-all older sibling!
Going into 7th grade Dulce’s family has owned a Mexican themed restaurant for generations, featuring mostly recipes handed down from mother to daughter but with the arrival of a chain taco place with cheap food and plenty of flash, Fidelia is in trouble. Dulce is torn between resenting that she must work at the restaurant all summer instead of the usual sleeping late, hanging out with friends or attending camps and her love of the eatery and all the memories and traditions wrapped up in it. Older sister Flor, a high school student who is taking classes in restaurant management already, is full of ideas for making Fidelia more popular-more tacos and less of the traditional and delicious family recipes and even hosting a cooking camp for tweens and teens.
Julian is new to Dulce’s California town and is angry to have been dragged from the busy, full of life New York City he has always known and the fact that his recently separated parents are selling the brownstone he loves. An embarrassing incident between Julian and Dulce results in his meeting of two fellow skateboard fans, Tanner and Luke, and sets the stage for Julian and Dulce’s enemies to something more storyline.
Cooking camp, family woes, friendship, a lot of cooperation and working together round out this romance for younger readers, making it a solid selection for libraries serving 5th-7th grade. Text is free of profanity, violence (except for a messy collision between a taco and a customer) and the only physical contact is pretty tame kiss. Representation: Main characters are Caucasian and Hispanic with their friend group and the cooking class filled with a variety of personalities and skin tones.
Thanks for the eARC, Edelweiss.
Going into 7th grade Dulce’s family has owned a Mexican themed restaurant for generations, featuring mostly recipes handed down from mother to daughter but with the arrival of a chain taco place with cheap food and plenty of flash, Fidelia is in trouble. Dulce is torn between resenting that she must work at the restaurant all summer instead of the usual sleeping late, hanging out with friends or attending camps and her love of the eatery and all the memories and traditions wrapped up in it. Older sister Flor, a high school student who is taking classes in restaurant management already, is full of ideas for making Fidelia more popular-more tacos and less of the traditional and delicious family recipes and even hosting a cooking camp for tweens and teens.
Julian is new to Dulce’s California town and is angry to have been dragged from the busy, full of life New York City he has always known and the fact that his recently separated parents are selling the brownstone he loves. An embarrassing incident between Julian and Dulce results in his meeting of two fellow skateboard fans, Tanner and Luke, and sets the stage for Julian and Dulce’s enemies to something more storyline.
Cooking camp, family woes, friendship, a lot of cooperation and working together round out this romance for younger readers, making it a solid selection for libraries serving 5th-7th grade. Text is free of profanity, violence (except for a messy collision between a taco and a customer) and the only physical contact is pretty tame kiss. Representation: Main characters are Caucasian and Hispanic with their friend group and the cooking class filled with a variety of personalities and skin tones.
Thanks for the eARC, Edelweiss.
August 24, 2024
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
I was going to give this four stars, but I have to take one off for the perjorative us of "Karen", especially since one of the plot points is Tanner calling Dulce "Taco" and having to apologize because it's rude and racist.
Dulce's family restaurant, Fidelia, was started by her greatgrandmother sixty years ago, and until recently was a thriving business. With the opening of the chain restaurant, Taco World, across the street, business has been down. Dulce's whole family works there, including her older sister, Flor, who wants to study business and marketing in order to help out. Fidelia herself died a few years ago, leaving the running of the restaurant to her aunt and mother. Dulce is getting a little tired of having to spend most of her free time working at the restaurant when she would rather be enrolling in a summer art camp with her friends Marnie and Mel. When she brings the art camp up to her parents, her mother thinks it is a great idea... to open a COOKING camp at the restaurant. Flor comes up with a curriculum, and has Dulce design flyers. Meanwhile, Julian and his mother have moved from New York City to California. He's bummed, because his parents are divorcing and he's had to leave all of his friends. Because his parents had teamed up on a popular vlog that dealt with restaurants, Julian and his mother head to Fidelia to try the food. A skateboarding accident with Mel's brother Tanner and his friend Luke goes awry, and Julian bumbs into Dulce while she is wearing a taco costume and carrying dishes. We see sparks fly from both of their perspectives. Julian loves to cook, so when his mother shows an interest in filming the camp, he doesn't complain about attending. Tanner and Luke, as well as Mel and Marnie, also enroll. Before long, Dulce and Julian stop being mad at each other and start to realize that they have a lot of things in common, including liking each other. Their friends, and even their families, give them a hard time, but this doesn't stop them from having a good time hanging out together. When Julian finds out that his father is going to come to California, and learns that his parents are interested in getting back together and possibly buying Fidelia, he's not sure what to do. Dulce eventually finds out, and is a little angry that he kept the secret from her, but the two put together a plan to try to save the restaurant. Since Flor is determined to sell tacos, Dulce looks at Fidelia's recipes and gets the students in the school to use some more traditional Mexican ingredients in tacos for their final project. Will these new flavors, along with a new social media following, be enough to save the day?
Strengths: This is from both Julian and Dulce's perspective, like Heldring's The Football Girl, AND has a great cover, which makes it the perfect book for my boys who want romance books. Also, there are plenty of descriptions of food, and a boy who cooks. There's realistic drama with the family business, as well as with Julian's parents, and also has a health scare for Dulce's grandfather, which is something that many middle school students experience. There are a reasonable number of friends involved, and even a little skateboarding, which we need to see a LOT more! Dulce and Julian even manage to save the day and share a kiss along the way. A very sweet, engaging read.
Weaknesses: At one point, Julian wonders if Dulce thinks he's "one of those Karens or something". This has to stop. Not only does it set a bad examples for young readers about using negative stereotypes, it's a phrase that hopefully will become badly dated. While I really liked the way that Julian treated Dulce, and vice versa, I wasn't a fan of the friends and family teasing them about their relationship. Again, not behavior that we need to encourage.
What I really think: While I am not personally a fan of the enemies--to-lovers trope (if I were Anne Shirley, I would NEVER have forgiven Gilbert!), I did like the way that the story unfolded, so if I can find this in a prebind, I will definitely purchase it. Fans of Homzie's Pumpkin Spice Secrets or Nelson's many WISH titles. The trend in middle grade lit romances seems to be skewing more toward LGBTQIA+ relationships, and while I always delicately ask what kind of romances my readers want, the vast majority are still asking for boy/girl ones. The WISH novels have just the right level of accidental hand brushing and chaste kisses.
Why Scholastic takes all of their best titles and releases them only in paperback is still a mystery to me.
I was going to give this four stars, but I have to take one off for the perjorative us of "Karen", especially since one of the plot points is Tanner calling Dulce "Taco" and having to apologize because it's rude and racist.
Dulce's family restaurant, Fidelia, was started by her greatgrandmother sixty years ago, and until recently was a thriving business. With the opening of the chain restaurant, Taco World, across the street, business has been down. Dulce's whole family works there, including her older sister, Flor, who wants to study business and marketing in order to help out. Fidelia herself died a few years ago, leaving the running of the restaurant to her aunt and mother. Dulce is getting a little tired of having to spend most of her free time working at the restaurant when she would rather be enrolling in a summer art camp with her friends Marnie and Mel. When she brings the art camp up to her parents, her mother thinks it is a great idea... to open a COOKING camp at the restaurant. Flor comes up with a curriculum, and has Dulce design flyers. Meanwhile, Julian and his mother have moved from New York City to California. He's bummed, because his parents are divorcing and he's had to leave all of his friends. Because his parents had teamed up on a popular vlog that dealt with restaurants, Julian and his mother head to Fidelia to try the food. A skateboarding accident with Mel's brother Tanner and his friend Luke goes awry, and Julian bumbs into Dulce while she is wearing a taco costume and carrying dishes. We see sparks fly from both of their perspectives. Julian loves to cook, so when his mother shows an interest in filming the camp, he doesn't complain about attending. Tanner and Luke, as well as Mel and Marnie, also enroll. Before long, Dulce and Julian stop being mad at each other and start to realize that they have a lot of things in common, including liking each other. Their friends, and even their families, give them a hard time, but this doesn't stop them from having a good time hanging out together. When Julian finds out that his father is going to come to California, and learns that his parents are interested in getting back together and possibly buying Fidelia, he's not sure what to do. Dulce eventually finds out, and is a little angry that he kept the secret from her, but the two put together a plan to try to save the restaurant. Since Flor is determined to sell tacos, Dulce looks at Fidelia's recipes and gets the students in the school to use some more traditional Mexican ingredients in tacos for their final project. Will these new flavors, along with a new social media following, be enough to save the day?
Strengths: This is from both Julian and Dulce's perspective, like Heldring's The Football Girl, AND has a great cover, which makes it the perfect book for my boys who want romance books. Also, there are plenty of descriptions of food, and a boy who cooks. There's realistic drama with the family business, as well as with Julian's parents, and also has a health scare for Dulce's grandfather, which is something that many middle school students experience. There are a reasonable number of friends involved, and even a little skateboarding, which we need to see a LOT more! Dulce and Julian even manage to save the day and share a kiss along the way. A very sweet, engaging read.
Weaknesses: At one point, Julian wonders if Dulce thinks he's "one of those Karens or something". This has to stop. Not only does it set a bad examples for young readers about using negative stereotypes, it's a phrase that hopefully will become badly dated. While I really liked the way that Julian treated Dulce, and vice versa, I wasn't a fan of the friends and family teasing them about their relationship. Again, not behavior that we need to encourage.
What I really think: While I am not personally a fan of the enemies--to-lovers trope (if I were Anne Shirley, I would NEVER have forgiven Gilbert!), I did like the way that the story unfolded, so if I can find this in a prebind, I will definitely purchase it. Fans of Homzie's Pumpkin Spice Secrets or Nelson's many WISH titles. The trend in middle grade lit romances seems to be skewing more toward LGBTQIA+ relationships, and while I always delicately ask what kind of romances my readers want, the vast majority are still asking for boy/girl ones. The WISH novels have just the right level of accidental hand brushing and chaste kisses.
Why Scholastic takes all of their best titles and releases them only in paperback is still a mystery to me.
January 7, 2025
I'm such a fan of this authentic, creative story! I love a little romance in MG, and Mancillas handles the sweet rivals-to-crushes relationship with appropriate gentleness while still keeping the swoon that readers will be drawn to. The family drama is relatable and compelling, and then there's the food! Mancillas expertly reminds the reader that there is much more to Mexican food than tacos. Taco Tuesdays is a delightful and satisfying MG read that will keep young readers hooked!
January 5, 2026
Loved this one I knew as soon as I seen it was a wish book about food cooking family and of course middle grade love the ending was unexpected I won’t
say anything about it tho but there is a tigger warning around the end of the book Dlues grandpa has an heart attack he is rushed to the hospital but he does survive and by the end of the book he is pretty much back to his normal self
Very good middle grade enemies to lovers type novel
say anything about it tho but there is a tigger warning around the end of the book Dlues grandpa has an heart attack he is rushed to the hospital but he does survive and by the end of the book he is pretty much back to his normal self
Very good middle grade enemies to lovers type novel
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2025
This is definitely a middle grade book (I'm not sure why it isn't tagged as such). The friendship between Dulce and Julian develops naturally. The "romance" part of it is more like a first crush. There is a kiss, but it occurs off page and is only mentioned as having happened by one of the characters. There is a lot of focus on food, traditions, and family. All make this a great easy read.
November 4, 2025
I adored Monica Mancillas’ TACO TUESDAYS. The story follows Dulce as she tries to save her family’s restaurant and Julian as he navigates new family dynamics and a new city. It’s full of family, friendship, yummy food, and first crushes, and it leaves you smiling at the end. It’s perfect for middle grade audiences!
February 20, 2025
I like the cooking, skateboarding elements of the story and a 7th grade romance, but most of all I appreciated the family recipes passed down to each generation. I would love to eat at a restaurant that served this food.
May 29, 2025
3.5 stars
This book had so many fun exploration of Mexican food and culture, as well as overcoming family conflicts and a comforting family restaraunt setting, but the romance aspect was lacking a lot of chemistry; the author's dialogue between the main characters and their friends seemed forced and unrealistic to how teenagers would talk, and the enemies to lovers trope was very forced, overexaggerating the enemies part.
This book had so many fun exploration of Mexican food and culture, as well as overcoming family conflicts and a comforting family restaraunt setting, but the romance aspect was lacking a lot of chemistry; the author's dialogue between the main characters and their friends seemed forced and unrealistic to how teenagers would talk, and the enemies to lovers trope was very forced, overexaggerating the enemies part.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews