[amazon_link id=”0143031716″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Title : Born Confused
Author : Tanuja Desai Hidier
Genre : Mystery
Publisher : Scholastic
Pages: 512
Publish Date : July, 2003
Source : Netgalley / Publisher ARC
Rating : 3.5/5

I’m no teenager and generally try to keep away from Young Adult books, but I chose to read this one because of the familiar Indian strains in it. Born Confused (taken from the acronym ABCD – American Born Confused Desi) is told in first person by Dimple Rohitbhai Lala, an American teenager of Indian heritage. Dimple’s parents are Indian born, with strong ties to their roots and culture. They attempt to instill their cultural values in Dimple, but she at 17, is resistant, and wants to be true-blue American. However change is coming, in ways Dimple never imagined.

Born Confused touches on various finding yourself /coming of age issues, the angst of growing up, and yes – the obligatory romance. When Dimple first meets frumpy desi-boy Karsh, she is not impressed and says as much to her closest pal Gwyn. She realizes later that appearances can be deceptive, when she meets him later sans familial interference, at a desi party. As her own interest peaks, his cools, and she finds herself at the opposite end of her usual quandary: maybe she is not desi enough for him?

This book starts off pretty well – I liked Dimple and her wry sense of humor. She seemed reasonably grounded and an all-around nice person. Her angst and the questions in her mind were to be expected; the burden of preserving age-old heritage is heavy :-). The story was predictable and ran the route of most coming-of-age novels, but it was pleasant enough and believable enough. Hidier does try to force a wide variety of issues into this one novel with the attendant cliches, but that again is par for the course, it being her first novel when the outpouring of feelings and emotions is generally unrestrained and makes it into print.

On the negative side, there were a few issues too. I was a little bemused to see Dimple’s parents pushing her towards a “suitable boy” at 17. I can understand her parents wanting her to understand and respect her culture, and preferably choose a partner from the same background, but this early? I just couldn’t imagine them pushing her towards a (serious ?) romantic relationship this young. Then I was a little surprised to see some of the activities Karsh thought suitable while hanging out. Also while I did like the fact that Hidier tries to give us an inside look at Dimple’s state of mind, at times the description meandered into pages and pages of juvenile-sounding introspection. Good editing might have transcribed this fulsome prose into reader-suitable words.

This is an interesting book for teens, although there is some content that may not meet parental approval, so I’d suggest reading it prior to buying it for a young one :-).