This book was an instant classic that students of all backgrounds would be able to relate to. I enjoy sharing this book with all of my students that feel misunderstood by their families, peers, and the world.

While the subject matter was undeniably important, I felt that Hidier dragged the story down with over-explaining and info-dumping on everything South Asian. I do understand that young readers will need a bit of context to go on, but then it reads more like Hidier was writing it for white audiences instead of South Asian readers.

Loved this book when I read for the first time in middle high school and didn't realize how much at the time diversity needed to be shown and be able to learn about different cultures,

I'm sorry it has taken so long to review this title. I absolutely loved it and appreciate being able to have the opportunity to read it. Thank you.

This book defines what it feels like to feel like an outsider. Dimple Lala is a typical teenager who feels the common angst of being a teenager. Yet she has the added struggle of being a second generation Indian whose parents seem very different than all her other friends' parents. She struggles to have a true sense of being American while remaining true to her Indian roots. A coming-of-age novel that will resonate with every reader.

Have you ever felled like you didn't belong anywhere? Dimple Lala is An Indian (not Native American). She has spent her summer chasing boys with her best friend, Gwyn. When she has her 17th birthday, Gwyn fixes her up with a college boy. When she gets drunk, with her college boyfriend, her parents decide toarrange an introduction to a suitable boy. While Dimple falls in love, she initially rejects the idea of her parents find. Gwyn is smitten with the boy so Dimple arranges to make Gwyn a suitable girlfriend for him.

The author gives us a view of Indian culture with descriptions of Indian food, dress and customs. I saw Dimple struggle to be true to herself despite her friends and parents. It shows how an "outsider" who isn't really must learn to bring the two different cultures into one without falling apart doing it.

Dimple Lala is an American Indian (as in East Indian, not Native American) caught between the traditional world of her parents and the life of a normal American teenager. Her best friend, willowy blonde ultra-cool Gwyn, thinks Indian culture is exotic and cool. Dimple’s one passion is her photography, and the world as she sees it through her camera lens is described in luminescent detail. Only here can she be herself, instead of awkward and alienated. At school, she can never compete with Gwyn; at home, wishes her meddling parents would stay out of her hair. When they arrange an introduction to a “suitable boy” (suitable for an arranged marriage, that is), Dimple goes on a blind date that Gwyn had set up, with predictably disastrous consequences. As the story unfolds, spilling out into the Indian music club scene, Dimple comes into her own, fusing the best of both worlds. An array of vivid secondary character and gorgeous sensory detail mark this as a book to be savored and shared.