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The Kitchen Isn't Where You Cook
Marisa Logan is a Black girl who doesn't know how to be Black. In the coming-of-age novel "The Kitchen Isn't Where You Cook," we see Marisa grow up in a small, white Michigan town in the '80s as the only Black girl in school. Sure, she's pretty, smart and popular, but none of that can mask the fact that she's "different."
As she grows, however, she doesn't want to assimilate anymore. During college, she settles into her identity as a campus leader of the Black Student Alliance during the "Fight the Power" era, and later as a successful engineer battling microaggressions in corporate America.
"The Kitchen Isn't Where You Cook" culminates with Marisa returning to her hometown soon after the 2016 election, when she is forced to confront the possibility that the people she grew up with – people she thought she'd always love – may have voted for division, hatred and racism. Can she deal with her fondest childhood memories being tainted?
As she grows, however, she doesn't want to assimilate anymore. During college, she settles into her identity as a campus leader of the Black Student Alliance during the "Fight the Power" era, and later as a successful engineer battling microaggressions in corporate America.
"The Kitchen Isn't Where You Cook" culminates with Marisa returning to her hometown soon after the 2016 election, when she is forced to confront the possibility that the people she grew up with – people she thought she'd always love – may have voted for division, hatred and racism. Can she deal with her fondest childhood memories being tainted?
492 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 7, 2024
13 people are currently reading
841 people want to read
About the author
Candace McCrary Johnson
2 books10 followersLongtime lover of books, pens, pencils and paper, Candy McCrary writes because she has to. Her mind won't shut off and the only way to capture everything her active imagination conjures up is to put fingertips to keyboard and write.
As a result, she has written several short stories since the second grade and finished her first romance novel in college. She has since written four other books of varying genres, and while most of them are still saved on her computer, they will eventually be shared with the world so you can get a glimpse of the literary fiction and vivid characters her mind has created.
A graduate of Michigan State University, Candy spent the first half of her career as a newspaper journalist before making the switch to public relations. She lives in the northwest Chicago suburbs with her husband and two teenaged children.
As a result, she has written several short stories since the second grade and finished her first romance novel in college. She has since written four other books of varying genres, and while most of them are still saved on her computer, they will eventually be shared with the world so you can get a glimpse of the literary fiction and vivid characters her mind has created.
A graduate of Michigan State University, Candy spent the first half of her career as a newspaper journalist before making the switch to public relations. She lives in the northwest Chicago suburbs with her husband and two teenaged children.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 25, 2025
I’m glad I came across this coming of age indie! Kindle has been coming thru with back to back hits!
In The Kitchen… Marisa is raised in a predominantly white community, one of few in schools. Her family’s wealth affords her the privilege of not having to worry about things most Black people deal with, or does it?
Because, she still gets passive aggressive comments from the girls in school, gets passed over for rightfully deserved recognition in school because she came up just short, and feels like an outsider at times.
Attending an HBCU is when her eyes are opened to all that she has missed out on, and been shielded from. Where does she fit in? How can she relate to struggles she’s never had to face?
This was a great story. I really enjoyed it. The saying is true and I could feel it in Marisa’s journey - being a Black wokan can be exhausting when you’re always trying to fit in to this tiny box, or meet obscure expectations. Talk too proper? Not Black enough? It’s enough to drive a person insane! Are Black parents doing their kids a disservice by shielding them from Blackness?
Most of the story seemed to follow Marisa in her early life, which provided a great foundation for the progression of the story, however the story just seemed to rev up the pace when she got to college and adulthood. Those were really pivotal times in her life and I would’ve enjoyed more from those eras.
All in all, it’s a great book that could prompt much deeper conversations. I think about nature vs nurture and how much of each shapes our futures most of all. I highly recommend it!
What’s interesting is that the audiobook was narrated by “virtual voice”, but it sounded like a narrator I’ve heard in the past…
In The Kitchen… Marisa is raised in a predominantly white community, one of few in schools. Her family’s wealth affords her the privilege of not having to worry about things most Black people deal with, or does it?
Because, she still gets passive aggressive comments from the girls in school, gets passed over for rightfully deserved recognition in school because she came up just short, and feels like an outsider at times.
Attending an HBCU is when her eyes are opened to all that she has missed out on, and been shielded from. Where does she fit in? How can she relate to struggles she’s never had to face?
This was a great story. I really enjoyed it. The saying is true and I could feel it in Marisa’s journey - being a Black wokan can be exhausting when you’re always trying to fit in to this tiny box, or meet obscure expectations. Talk too proper? Not Black enough? It’s enough to drive a person insane! Are Black parents doing their kids a disservice by shielding them from Blackness?
Most of the story seemed to follow Marisa in her early life, which provided a great foundation for the progression of the story, however the story just seemed to rev up the pace when she got to college and adulthood. Those were really pivotal times in her life and I would’ve enjoyed more from those eras.
All in all, it’s a great book that could prompt much deeper conversations. I think about nature vs nurture and how much of each shapes our futures most of all. I highly recommend it!
What’s interesting is that the audiobook was narrated by “virtual voice”, but it sounded like a narrator I’ve heard in the past…
December 22, 2025
I couldn’t put it down!!!
This was sooooo good and sooo relatable. I could not put it down. I loved every piece of it and it is definitely now one of my faves.
This was sooooo good and sooo relatable. I could not put it down. I loved every piece of it and it is definitely now one of my faves.
December 7, 2025
This book had a good concept and I would read another from this author!
However, the writing is what made me give a 2/5, and I feel this is expected for a first book.
Marisa grows up in a white community and doesn’t really get to embrace being around black people until her late high school years. It’s at that point when she realizes the racism that’s been around her for years. Then the story amps up.
This is where my 2 stars come in. The book focuses so much on the back and forth of Marisa’s (mainly) teen years that we are missing out on her adult character development. It felt as though the story was dragged out on some topics but then completely skipped over others. Specifically there’s that time Marisa went to Chicago instead of prom. All we saw from that was that she got new clothes. And then grandmama died. THAT’S HUGE!!! Grandmama was a huge part of Marisa’s childhood and all we experienced of that was that Marisa was sad and having trouble coping. One sentence! I felt that some of the fluff could’ve been removed to give room for other things.
Furthermore, the writing jumped topics with no warning. I read this as an ebook, so I’m not sure if the formatting was messed up (as I know it sometimes is), or if that was the intended product. The book would be discussing one topic and then jump months/weeks/days worth of time without even a line between the new paragraph. For me, it would’ve been nice to have something separating the text in those cases.
Lastly, the last 100 pages or so are what took me from a 3 star book to a 2 star book. As I mentioned earlier, it seemed as though Marisa was lacking character development after high school. Marisa never seemed to care about politics until all of a sudden it was thrown into the writing (to be left alone again for another 30 ish book years), there was one chapter that the POVs swapped from Marisa’s to Kyle’s for a single paragraph, and I felt Marisa was less enjoyable of a character.
Marisa is very committed to everything she does, but it never feels that she develops who she is, which is talked about in the last chapter. It always just feels like she’s easily encouraged and takes that to the extreme. It doesn’t help that her adult years were very superficial compared to her adult years. As said above, this just made Marisa not enjoyable to me as a later adult.
Again, this is what I expect from first time authors! I did really enjoy the concept, I just would’ve liked less childhood development (especially because a lot of it was repetitive), and more adult development about her seeing the outside perspective!
However, the writing is what made me give a 2/5, and I feel this is expected for a first book.
Marisa grows up in a white community and doesn’t really get to embrace being around black people until her late high school years. It’s at that point when she realizes the racism that’s been around her for years. Then the story amps up.
This is where my 2 stars come in. The book focuses so much on the back and forth of Marisa’s (mainly) teen years that we are missing out on her adult character development. It felt as though the story was dragged out on some topics but then completely skipped over others. Specifically there’s that time Marisa went to Chicago instead of prom. All we saw from that was that she got new clothes. And then grandmama died. THAT’S HUGE!!! Grandmama was a huge part of Marisa’s childhood and all we experienced of that was that Marisa was sad and having trouble coping. One sentence! I felt that some of the fluff could’ve been removed to give room for other things.
Furthermore, the writing jumped topics with no warning. I read this as an ebook, so I’m not sure if the formatting was messed up (as I know it sometimes is), or if that was the intended product. The book would be discussing one topic and then jump months/weeks/days worth of time without even a line between the new paragraph. For me, it would’ve been nice to have something separating the text in those cases.
Lastly, the last 100 pages or so are what took me from a 3 star book to a 2 star book. As I mentioned earlier, it seemed as though Marisa was lacking character development after high school. Marisa never seemed to care about politics until all of a sudden it was thrown into the writing (to be left alone again for another 30 ish book years), there was one chapter that the POVs swapped from Marisa’s to Kyle’s for a single paragraph, and I felt Marisa was less enjoyable of a character.
Marisa is very committed to everything she does, but it never feels that she develops who she is, which is talked about in the last chapter. It always just feels like she’s easily encouraged and takes that to the extreme. It doesn’t help that her adult years were very superficial compared to her adult years. As said above, this just made Marisa not enjoyable to me as a later adult.
Again, this is what I expect from first time authors! I did really enjoy the concept, I just would’ve liked less childhood development (especially because a lot of it was repetitive), and more adult development about her seeing the outside perspective!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews