Status
Available
Publication
Quill Tree Books (2021), 224 pages
Library's review
It’s 1983, and 13-year-old Indian American Reha feels caught between two worlds.
Monday through Friday, she goes to a school where she stands out for not being White but where she has a weekday best friend, Rachel, and does English projects with potential crush Pete. On the weekends, she’s with
An intimate novel that beautifully confronts grief and loss. (Verse novel. 11-15)
-Kirkus Review
Monday through Friday, she goes to a school where she stands out for not being White but where she has a weekday best friend, Rachel, and does English projects with potential crush Pete. On the weekends, she’s with
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her other best friend, Sunita (Sunny for short), at gatherings hosted by her Indian community. Reha feels frustrated that her parents refuse to acknowledge her Americanness and insist on raising her with Indian values and habits. Then, on the night of the middle school dance, her mother is admitted to the hospital, and Reha’s world is split in two again: this time, between hospital and home. Suddenly she must learn not just how to be both Indian and American, but also how to live with her mother’s leukemia diagnosis. The sections dealing with Reha’s immigrant identity rely on oft-told themes about the overprotectiveness of immigrant parents and lack the nuance found in later pages. Reha’s story of her evolving relationships with her parents, however, feels layered and real, and the scenes in which Reha must grapple with the possible loss of a parent are beautifully and sensitively rendered. The sophistication of the text makes it a valuable and thought-provoking read even for those older than the protagonist.An intimate novel that beautifully confronts grief and loss. (Verse novel. 11-15)
-Kirkus Review
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Awards
Young Hoosier Book Award (Nominee — Middle Grade — 2024)
Rebecca Caudill Young Readers' Book Award (Nominee — 2024)
Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominee — Grades 6-8 — 2023)
Buckeye Children's & Teen Book Award (Nominee — Grades 3-5 — 2022)
Newbery Medal (Honor Book — 2022)
Great Lakes Great Books Award (Nominee — 2023)
Vermont Golden Dome Book Award (Nominee — 2023)
Golden Kite Award (Winner — Middle Grade Fiction — 2022)
Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children's Literature (Honor Book — 2022)
Iowa Children's Choice Award (Nominee — 2023)
Louisiana Young Readers' Choice Award (Nominee — 2024)
SCBWI Crystal Kite Award (2022)
Black-Eyed Susan Book Award (Nominee — Grades 4-6 — 2023)
Volunteer State Book Award (Nominee — Middle School — 2023)
Massachusetts Book Award (Must-Read (Longlist) — 2022)
Evergreen Teen Book Award (Nominee — Middle School — 2024)
Azia Books Diversity Award (Listed)
Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry (Honor Book — 2022)
NCTE Notable Poetry Books and Verse Novels (Poetry — 2022)
Walter Dean Myers Awards for Outstanding Children's Literature (Winner — Younger Readers — 2022)
New England Book Award (Finalist — Middle Grade — 2021)
CCBC Choices (2022)
New York Public Library Best Books: For Kids (Middle Grade Fiction — 2021)
Notable Children's Book (2022)
Nerdy Book Award (2021)
Project LIT Book Selection (Young Adult — 2023)
Language
Original language
English
ISBN
006304742X / 9780063047426