Sigh. Here we go. Again. Another "fictionalized memoir". As readers know, I don't like these. An author who writes a fictionalized version of themselves in a teen book does everything a good writer should not. The events are idealized, the plot pat, the characters two-dimensional. And so it is with this book. Zomorod, a sixth grade Iranian transplant to Newport Beach in 1978, wants to be American so badly that she tells everyone her name is Cindy -- like Cindy Brady. She is embarrassed by her parents, her culture, the family's poverty, and this is the overriding theme for 300 of the 377 pages. She whines. And whines. She doesn't get the puka shell necklace she wants, and she whines. Not much happens, with each chapter being a little vignette of Cindy/Zomorod's life as time passes. The Iranian revolution, under Khomeni, is just irritating at first, as it draws attention to Cindy/Zomorod's differences. Eventually, we get a teensy bit of character growth. People start being mean to the family because they are Iranian, and Cindy/Zomorod tunes into the fact that she is lucky to have her family, and grateful that things (of course) work out okay. Young girls will love the book. It's a fun, shallow read and reflects all the desires of your average middle school student to fit in and make friends, but "real" didn't even cross my mind while reading it. If you want a "real" book about a young girl dealing with the struggles of Iran in the late 1970s, read Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis."
PS -- Odd note here. Ms. Dumas spells out her parent's speech phonetically throughout the book, highlighting their accents. If anyone else did this, they would get called on for stereotyping or worse. Why is it that people from a given culture are allowed to diss that culture? Sorry, this one doesn't go into my file of "diverse books".
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