Review: Humorous mix of cultures, religions, and nationalities in a teenage world
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 10, 2012
I loved this book. I especially like Vidya Samson's ability to take cultures, religions, nationalities, social classes and incomes, races, even skin and hair color, mix them together in the world of teenage anxiety and come up with hilarious situations.The book is set in a Catholic school on a small island near Saudi Arabia in the Middle East. The students consist of Hindu's, Muslims, Christians, Arabs, Indians, Pakistanis, other Asians, Americans, etc., oh...and Catholics. I looked up Bahrain on Wikipedia and in 2010 the population was half "non-nationals." The parents of the main character, Veena, are working in Bahrain to better themselves financially because India doesn't have the pay or jobs available. I guess this is the best school in the area to get such a mix of students.Veena suffers through biology classes on reproduction, harrassment for her accent, embarrasment from family, other students' jealousy over her role with "Mr. Perfect," anxiety over hair style and breast size, and an unwanted leadership role in the "No-no" abstinance club. There are some serious conversations on the existence and personality of God. Racism and Nazism are brought up.It does have a few errors like most of the Kindle downloads, and needs some perfecting proof reading, but it is better than most. It also mentions several celebrities, products, and trendy things which will date the book very quickly.It is a great book for teens. I wish it were published in paperback format. The few smart teens that I know who would like this book don't have a Kindle. I am not likely to read a book on my laptop or phone, so I doubt if others are eager to read in that format either. Even though electronic media is supposed to take over paper, I kind of doubt it. I think there is a place for both.I think titles should be as short as possible, preferably three words and no punctuation. I prefer titles that don't mention underwear, body parts, functions, fluids, or anything you wouldn't ordinarily discuss with a stranger even if the book is a comedy. This is just my feeling about it. I love the book. I'm not crazy about the title. But that said, once a book is published, it's a bad idea to change the title.Buy the book. Send it to your teenage friends. It's worth it.