Blue Jasmine - Softcover

"When 12-year-old Seema moves with her parents and younger sister from India to Iowa City, she must leave her grandparents, extended family, and, most distressingly, her cousin Raju, who has been like a brother to her. Seema describes her adjustment to the newness of the U.S.the food, clothing, weather, educationand her feelings: "I was always the outsider listening in." Although she makes friends, she also encounters surprising hostility from another newcomer to her class, and ultimately learns the coping skills necessary to deal with this troubled girl. The writing is infused with evocative descriptions: "the few leaves left clinging to the trees made them look like beggars in ragged clothes" or "the days stretched out like a sari." Sheth uses Seema's letters to India and a classroom assignment to transmit significant cultural information, but at times this approach takes on a didactic and unnatural air. Still, the narrative advances steadily, with many opportunities for insights into the experience of this new immigrant, plus enough tension introduced through the bully to keep readers interested."
-School Library Journal
"Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI"
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Filled with details that document an immigrant's observations and experiences, Seema's story, which articulates the ache for distant home and family, will resonate with fellow immigrants and enlighten their classmates.
Copyright (c) American Library Association. All rights reserved
-Booklist
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This is a deeply moving and realistic novel about emigration. It is the winner of an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum award and of an IRA Children's Book Award Notable Book. When 12-year-old Seema Trivedi learns that she and her family must move from their small village in India to Iowa City, USA, she realises she will say goodbye to the only home she's ever known. India is home to the purple-jewelled mango trees and sweet-smelling jasmine, to the monsoon rains and the bustling market. Most important, it is home to her beloved family of aunts, uncles, grand-parents and cousins...all of whom she'll have to leave behind. Yet the adventure of moving to America unfolds before her like the bloom of a new flower. A world of new experiences and challenges lies in wait. In time, will she begin to plant roots in the soil that feels so strange?