There are a lot of adjustments for 12-year-old Seema when she moves with her family from India to Iowa City. Her family must adjust to a new language, a new culture, new ways of doing everyday things like grocery shopping, and, most especially, the cold weather. The most difficult thing for Seema, however, is living halfway around the world from the extended family she left back in India, particularly her cousin Raju, who resents that she left him. But her new life in an American public school soon begins to crowd the corners of her mind, both academically and socially, as she begins to feel she is fitting in. Socially adept in both cultures, she is even able to deal with the classroom bully with aplomb. First-time novelist Kashmira Sheth shows remarkable talent for creating credible, well-rounded characters who are able to meet the challenge of living in two cultures without being forced to choose between them. This, coupled with her skillful use of metaphor, raises this novel high above the typical immigrant story for this age level. (Ages 11–14)

When twelve-year-old Seema Trivedi learns that she and her family must move from their small Indian town to Iowa City, she realizes she'll have to say good-bye to the purple-jeweled mango trees and sweet-smelling jasmine, to the monsoon rains and the bustling market. More important, she must leave behind her best friend and cousin, Raju. Everything is different in Iowa City, where Seema feels like an outsider to the language and traditions. As she begins to plant roots in the foreign soil, however, her confidence starts to bloom, and she learns she can build a bridge between two homes. With lyrical language and poignant scenes, Kashmira Sheth unearths the meaning of "home" and "family" in this tender debut novel. Kashmira Sheth's own experiences as a teenager who moved by herself from India to America inspired her to write this novel. She is a microbiologist and lives with her family in Madison, Wisconsin.