Review: A FUN READ!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 19, 2012
What's a girl gotta do to get her first bra, her first kiss, her first love?If you thought the Middle East was all about fatwas and burkhas, think again. Join the fun as Veena, a naive teen from India, bungles her way through adolescence on the island of Bahrain.A great escape filled with laughter and teenage angst. Girls in the Middle East aren't very different than girls in the U.S. The girls in the story had to live with a few more rules but like girls everywhere they find ways to get around the rules.Veena is a 15 year old Indian girl living in Bahrain. She goes to a multicultural Catholic school with Arab, White, Indian and Pakistani students. Boys and girls. Venna calls it like the United Nations. It is very interesting to see the interaction between the students. Problems or conflicts between the home countries are not felt in this story. The kids are just kids with kid type issues.Veena is a really smart teen with a mother who would drive anyone let alone a teenager crazy. Her mother is the reason Veena seems to have more than her share of issues. Bras, haircuts, boys, the normal teenage things, her mother just doesn't get it and this just adds to the laughs.It is fun to step away from the heavier fiction of thrillers and mysteries to pick up this lighthearted quick read. From the school play of Romeo and Juliet to the "No-No Club", from "crushing" on boys to learning to love the bodies they are blessed with, this story was a joy to read. Young teens to grandmas will enjoy Veena's story.