Summary & Evaluation: Dimple Lala's an Indian by birth and American by nature, and she's confused--but she won't stay that way for long. After Dimple's parents try to arrange for her to meet a "suitable" boy, Dimple begins the process of discovering her Indian heritage as she increasingly comes into contact with it through Karsh (the boy), Kavita (her Indian born-and-bred, college-aged cousin) and others in the "underground" Indian heritage scene in NYC. The "suitable" boy complicates matters, however, as Dimple's all-American friend--the always-at-the-center-of-attention Gwyn Sexton--begins to crush on Karsh and claims him for her own. In the end, Dimple not only comes to terms with her Indian culture but also learns to embrace her family and friends, taking the relationships to a new level.
Born Confused is, to date, the hippest YA novel I've read. The main characters live between New Jersey and NYC and, at the age of 17, have fake id's, are hanging out with college-aged men and women and have a language all of their own. It's perhaps the language that's the most appealing, however, as this secret language morphs somewhat as the story progresses. At the beginning, Dimple and Gwyn are speaking in cutesy American slang of half-curses ("frock" and "oh my Claude"s predominate)--but as Dimple (and Gwyn) begins to investigate her Indian heritage, the language of the novel integrates more Indian words, and Dimple engages her culture in a more positive manner. That said, the language of the novel was also also one of its biggest problems for me, in that there was no glossary of Indian words used (okay, not a big gripe, but I forgot what bhangra meant and people were being described left and right as being all "bhangrad up"). Also, the novel tended to drag in the middle as Dimple's complex relations with everyone and everything--her family, her friends, herself, her heritage--took a while to describe and even longer to solve. Regardless of its problems, however, Born Confused was fun to read in that it wasn't your typical "I hate my parents and I need a boyfriend" novel, and more of an "I want to discover my heritage and, by the way, I need a boyfriend" novel.
Booktalk Hook: The book's plot relies somewhat on Dimple's ever-present camera (named "Chica Tikka") and her growth as a photographer as a parallel to her relationship with others, so I think I'd want to read pages 200-201. I think it's a pretty good description of Dimple's journey of self-realization and involves the author's fascination with a lyrical narrative and fusing Indian words with English.
Born Confused is, to date, the hippest YA novel I've read. The main characters live between New Jersey and NYC and, at the age of 17, have fake id's, are hanging out with college-aged men and women and have a language all of their own. It's perhaps the language that's the most appealing, however, as this secret language morphs somewhat as the story progresses. At the beginning, Dimple and Gwyn are speaking in cutesy American slang of half-curses ("frock" and "oh my Claude"s predominate)--but as Dimple (and Gwyn) begins to investigate her Indian heritage, the language of the novel integrates more Indian words, and Dimple engages her culture in a more positive manner. That said, the language of the novel was also also one of its biggest problems for me, in that there was no glossary of Indian words used (okay, not a big gripe, but I forgot what bhangra meant and people were being described left and right as being all "bhangrad up"). Also, the novel tended to drag in the middle as Dimple's complex relations with everyone and everything--her family, her friends, herself, her heritage--took a while to describe and even longer to solve. Regardless of its problems, however, Born Confused was fun to read in that it wasn't your typical "I hate my parents and I need a boyfriend" novel, and more of an "I want to discover my heritage and, by the way, I need a boyfriend" novel.
Booktalk Hook: The book's plot relies somewhat on Dimple's ever-present camera (named "Chica Tikka") and her growth as a photographer as a parallel to her relationship with others, so I think I'd want to read pages 200-201. I think it's a pretty good description of Dimple's journey of self-realization and involves the author's fascination with a lyrical narrative and fusing Indian words with English.
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