Struggling with Two Cultural Identities

Through the character of Reha, the novel in verse examines how having two cultural identities makes one feel out of place in both. Reha is American by birth, but her parents are from India. She struggles to fit in with her peers at school and her parents' circle of Indian friends. The novel in verse opens with Reha's description of how the physical characteristics of students at school are different than those of her biological family. “At school I swim in a river of white skin / and blond hair and brown hair / and blue eyes and green eyes and hazel /. . . And on weekends, / I float in a sea of brown skin and black hair and dark eyes” (1).

A major struggle for Reha's life in both worlds is the style of her clothing. She wants to wear fashionable clothing, including the tight jeans...