Language: G - (no swears);
Mature Content: G;
Violence: PG (medical discussions - mostly blood related.
BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
13yo Reha lives in 2 worlds - at home, she's Indian - her parents immigrated from India before she was born. they are very strict about school and have high expectations that Reha will do well. But at school, Reha wants to be a regular middle school kid, worried about much the same things as other middle schoolers, her clothes, friends, boys, dances, but because there are so few students like Reha, she feels like she doesn't really fit in at school. When her mom is diagnosed with Leukemia, her home world starts to crumble. She thinks that maybe being the perfect daughter will make everything OK, but soon she realizes that what his needed most is the support of her friends and her family - but accepting that support is so hard.
Set in 1983, I loved all the references to movies, music, MTV, even videotape! Funny how so much has changed in the last 40 years, but how much stays the same - family relationships, friendships, even middle school. Her mother's Leukemia journey was heartbreaking; Reha feeling like she could make things different, and having to accept the way things were. I think that both culturally and socially (dealing with cultural differences, having a parent with a life threatening diagnosis) my students would enjoy it. However, I do wish it wasn't in verse - that's such a hard sell for middle school students,
Lisa Librarian
Lisa Librarian
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