American as Paneer Pie
Supriya Kelkar, Author
Aladdin Books, Fiction, Jun. 9, 2020
Suitable for ages: 8-12
Themes: Indian American, Culture, Bullying, Racism, Family, Friendship
Book Jacket Synopsis: As the only Indian American kid in her small town, Lekha Divekar feels like she has two versions of herself: Home Lekha, who loves watching Bollywood movies and eating Indian food, and School Lekha, who pins her hair over her bindi birthmark and avoids confrontation at all costs, especially when someone teases her for being Indian.
When a girl Lekha’s age moves in across the street, Lekha is excited to hear that her name is Avantika and she’s Desi, too! Finally, there will be someone else around who gets it. But as soon as Avantika speaks, Lekha realizes she has an accent. She’s new to this country, and not at all like Lekha.
To Lekha’s surprise, Avantika does not feel the same way as Lekha about having two separate lives or about the bullying at school. Avantika doesn’t take the bullying quietly. And she proudly displays her culture no matter where she is: at home or at school.
When a racist incident rocks Lekha’s community, Lekha realizes she must make a choice: continue to remain silent or find her voice before it’s too late.
Why I like this book:
Supriya Kelkar’s American as Paneer Pie is a tender story about an 11-year-old Desi girl, who faces teasing from kids at school and prejudice in her community. Her journey is one of hope and heart. It is also realistic fiction that is based on the author’s own early experiences as an Indian American. This story appealed to me because we adopted a son from India in 1985. I am fascinated with the culture and its beautiful traditions. Our son dealt with a lot bullying and curiosity from others, but he was fortunate to find a group of friends who had his back.
Readers are in for a treat because a lot of the story focuses on details about Lehka’s family dynamics and culture. Even though her family is the only Indian family in town, they interact with a large Indian community in Detroit. Readers will be introduced to the many celebrations, like Diwali, the five-day Indian Festival of Lights, which is as important to Hindus as Christmas is to Christians. They will also enjoy the food preparations, the spices used in all the dishes, the music and dancing, the Bollywood movies, Indian comic books, and the colorful clothing, bindis and bangles worn during a variety of special events. And there is a recipe for Paneer Pie (similar to pizza) at the end of the book.
It is so easy to love Lekha. She experiences the angst of middle school, but she’s tired of the questions about her heritage, the bullying, and being made to feel different. She just wants to fit in and spends much of her time skirting conflict. When another Indian family moves across the street, Lekah is excited to have a friend like, Avantika. But the relationship is complicated, because Avantika doesn’t share Lekah’s concerns and is proud of her heritage. Lekah’s best friend and neighbor, Noah, brings a lot of fun and humor to the story.
The book is timely because it explores important issues of racism, xenophobia and foreigners through Lekha, who is tired of feeling helpless and not American enough. She begins to find her voice after family members are beaten on the street, a racial slur is sprayed across her family’s garage door, and a newly-elected senator is hostile towards immigrants taking away jobs in Michigan. There is a lot of growth in Lekha, although most of it is toward the end of the book.
American as Paneer Pie is an important story that Indian American youth will find relatable. And it is a book that can be read in the classroom to create empathy and respect for all cultures. Perfect for school libraries.
Supriya Kelkar was born and raised in the Midwest where she learned Hindi as a child by watching three Hindi movies a week. Supriya is a screenwriter who has worked on the writing teams for several Hindi films and one Hollywood feature. Her books include Ahimsa, That Thing about Bollywood, and American as Paneer Pie, among others. Make sure you visit Kelkar at her website.
Greg Pattridge hosts Marvelous Middle Grade Monday posts on his wonderful Always in the Middle website. Check out the MMGM link to see all of the wonderful reviews by KidLit bloggers and authors.
*I won an advanced reading copy on Rosi Hollenbeck‘s Kidlit blog, She’s also regularly reviews books for San Francisco and Manhattan Book Reviews. If you haven’t read her blog, please check it out.
We had neighbors who were from India in the 1970s, and it never struck me that I should think they were any different from our other neighbors. This was hard to read, but very good!
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I know, I group up with neighbors from Iran and never gave it a second thought. It is interesting how the two Indian neighbors viewed their experiences so differently!
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This sounds like a really powerful story! The contrast between Lekha and Avantika sounds interesting, and it’s good to see more books tackling the racism and hatred that is running rampant in our country. Thanks for the great review!
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It is a powerful read. I loved the contrast between the two friends — made you think.
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I like books like this when another culture is introduced as well as how racism affects young people. Very timely too. Although you would think by now racism would be a thing of the past. I also love the Indian culture and traditions and have dear friends who are Indo-Canadian.
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You would think that racism would be a thing of the past with so many beautiful cultures represented in our country. But, not so. Our son from India has had some trying times with profiling, but learned to handle it well. He’s quite successful and in is now 48 — he was 13 when we adopted him. He made several trips back to India over the years, but this is home.
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That’s awesome your son is adopted from India. My daughter is adopted from China, and I was always grateful she fit in in with her friends. This sounds like a great story that really explores some of the feelings kids experience in middle school when they come from a different culture.
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You probably adopted your daughter when she was young. Our son was 13 when we adopted him, so he was thrown into the middle school scene. Thank heavens we had neighbor boys his age who stepped in and helped him through some hard times. And, he is still friends with five of the boys he grew up with in an orphanage in India — all adopted at the same time — they are brothers/family forever and they see each other and communicate frequently.
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I loved Ahimsa and *just* checked this one out, so I’m thrilled to see how much you enjoyed it! It looks like I’m in for a treat. I always enjoy your reviews. Thank you for this one, and have a beautiful day!
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I know you’ll enjoy this book! Happy reading!
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I’ve seen this book in various reviews. I need to get this on my TBR. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
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It’s a great story — but I’m a bit biased because I love reading stories about the India culture.
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So much to like about this story. I remember reading Rosi’s review and appreciate you giving it additional focus on today’s Marvelous Middle Grade Monday. The main character sounds memorable. I’m adding the title to my must read in 2021 list.
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Love to give a book extra love — especially when it’s an excellent and important story.
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That’s neat that you have a personal connection to this book through your son. This sounds like a rich story. I really like how it includes so much about Indian culture. Will keep my eye out for this one!
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I love books that really give readers a good sense of a culture — and this one certainly does. You can almost smell the spices.
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I’m so glad you enjoyed this book. I thought you would. Thanks for the shoutout and for sharing your thoughts.
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Thank you for choosing me! I really loved this story and it’s always fun to give a good book more love!
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