A Group of One

Children's Literature

Tara's parents are from India but Tara thinks of herself as a "proper" Canadian. Tara is tired of being different, of having her differences pointed out and commented upon. All she really wants is to belong. Then her father's mother, Naniji, comes to stay. Naniji has fought the British during the struggle for independence in India. She is proud of the heritage and culture of her country and is horrified to realize that her grandchildren know nothing of this heritage. Tara resents her grandmother's criticism and resists every attempt on Naniji's part to be friends. But after she hears Naniji's story, Tara realizes that she admires her grandmother and wants to tell everyone her story. Tara uses Naniji's story for her school assignment, little dreaming how drastically this will change her own perceptions and her relationships with people around her. 2001, Henry Holt and Company, Ages 12 up.
—Nandini Nayar

From The Critics

Tara Mehta is made to feel an outcast in her social studies class when her teacher, Mr. Tolly, asks what her native language is. Tara was born and reared in Canada and resents the implication that she is somehow "foreign." The intensity of these feelings increases when Tara's grandmother comes to visit from India. As Tara begins to learn about her grandmother's youth and adolescence, she gains not only an understanding of her cultural heritage as an child of India, but she becomes even more determined to confront the implied racism of her teacher and some of her classmates. A Group of One explores a culture not often represented in young adult literature. The information about the Quit India Movement and other historical references make this book a natural tie into world history classes. Readers will appreciate how the issues are confronted with brutal honesty. Above all, they will enjoy reading Tara's up and down experiences of adolescence, from first love, to embarrassing parents, and more. Genre: Family/Cultural Differences. 2001, Henry Holt, 184 pp., $17.00. Ages 12 up. Reviewer: Teri Lesesne; Huntsville, Texas

KLIATT

Gilmore was born in India and lives in Canada, and her story of an immigrant family in Ottawa seems to be one she understands well. The narrator is Tara, oldest of three daughters, who resents any reference to her being Indian or different in any way from other Canadians. Her parents get along well, but there is friction between them as to their relationship to the father's family in India and to India in general. When the grandmother comes to visit them the household is turned upside down, literally, as everyone works hard to make the place over for her. Tara is ready to hate this grandmother, who hasn't treated her daughter-in-law warmly, who is so tied to Indian history and traditions. This story is about the visit, about Tara's slow change at seeing her own heritage as an important one. She comes to recognize her resemblance to her grandmother, who as a teenager fought for change in India, and yet at the same time she realizes that she truly is Canadian and should be recognized as an equal to her "white" classmates. The ethnic politics and identification will ring true for many young people from numerous immigrant situations, who will also understand the confusion as to how to patch in traditions from the old country with the cultural identity of the new country. Tara's quite natural relationships with her sisters, her best friend, and a new boyfriend add to the appeal of this story. The rebellious way she purposely irritates her grandmother by flaunting her boyfriend and her lack of interest in India is behavior most teenagers will recognize. KLIATT Codes: J—Recommended for junior high school students. 2001, Henry Holt, 184p., $16.95. Ages 13 to 15. Reviewer: ClaireRosser; September 2001 (Vol. 35 No. 5)

VOYA

Fifteen-year-old Tara has an identity problem. Is she Canadian, Indian, or a hyphenate? Is there more to her cultural heritage than enjoying the food and listening to a few rude comments about the color of her skin? Unlike other children of immigrants, Tara has moved outside her ethnic circle. At times, however, Tara carries a chip on her shoulder, bristling with hostility at comments she perceives to be racially motivated. Most of her friends and her new boyfriend Jeff are white. She thinks that she has everything figured out until her grandmother, Naniji, arrives from India to meet her grandchildren for the first time. Naniji had been involved firsthand in India's struggle for independence from Great Britain. She never forgave her son for leaving the country after his marriage. At first Tara resents Naniji's judgmental attitude, but after hearing her story, Tara grudgingly comes to admire her. Tara is incredibly rude and self-centered throughout most of this story, making it difficult to like her. Stubbornness and pride keep most characters from being honest with each other. Baby steps taken humbly by Tara, her grandmother, and parents begin to bring the Mehtas and their friends together by uncovering and honestly discussing long-kept secrets. As with the family in Christopher Paul Curtis's The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 (Delacorte, 1995), a comfortable existence is shaken up when the consequences of racial prejudice are confronted firsthand in this emotional, thoughtful story. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2001, Henry Holt, 184p, $16.95. Ages 16 to 18. Reviewer:Pam Carlson SOURCE: VOYA, August 2001 (Vol. 24, No. 3)

School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-This novel asks a number of important questions within the framework of a good story. Tara, 15, considers herself Canadian and has never given much thought to her racial or cultural identity. Neither she nor her sisters know much about their parents' heritage. When their paternal grandmother arrives from India for a lengthy visit, the tensions in the family run high. The sisters learn that Naniji has never approved of their mother or her family because they were not active in India's independence movement. Naniji and her relatives, on the other hand, were leaders in the nonviolent protests initiated by Gandhi and suffered terribly as a result. At first angry and sullen in her grandmother's presence, Tara does an about-face as she learns the woman's story. She interviews Naniji for a history assignment that, when presented to the class, causes her classmates to think in new and unfamiliar ways. In addition to family difficulties, Tara's budding romance with a new boy in her class is complicated by multiple misunderstandings and thoughtless actions. The climax and resolution of these problems are dramatic and satisfying. As Tara seeks to define her own identity, she begs to be thought of as a "group of one," not stereotyped as a member of a larger group because of the color of her skin or the national origin of her parents. She changes a bit too quickly from being angry to serving as her grandmother's ally and champion but she is a strong protagonist. An excellent vehicle for discussion.-Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Irreverent and sassy, Tara-My-Stara (as her hip mom calls her) is determined to be a "regular Canadian," not a hyphenated one. Gilmore (Mina's Spring of Colors, not reviewed, etc.) has lived in India, England, and Canada, just like Rohini, Tara's mom, and she writes realistically about this family from India who don't emphasize their cultural background to any great degree. Tara's Social Studies teacher and some of the kids in her class want to define her as different (in positive and negative ways), but she resists this notion, knowing that she has lived in Ottawa all her life. Her 15-year-old typical teenager's life is upset by two other events. She meets Jeff, a young man who has just moved to town, and her paternal grandmother, a staunch Indian Nationalist, comes to visit for the first time. Naniji seems most critical of her son's wife, Rohini, her Western ways, and her lack of traditional respect, but she is probably saddened by the fact that her son chose to live in Canada with his bride. Tara takes her mother's side and refuses to warm up to her grandmother until a school assignment encourages Tara to interview her. When she learns more about her family's role in Gandhi's "Quit India" campaign in 1942, she begins to realize that her grandmother is more than just a stern old woman who can't adjust to new ways. Tara's first-person narrative flippantly relates the ups and downs of contemporary family life and the on-again, off-again relationships with Jeff and Erin, her longtime best friend, but her teenage voice tends to veer toward an overuse of words like "crappy." This independent heroine wrestles with the themes of cultural identity and personal individuality, adolescent issuesin Canada and the US. Development of some minor characters is weak (Raj, the father, never comes to life), but Tara, Rohini, and Naniji are strong women who fight back against the tone of didacticism that sometimes floats to the surface. (Fiction. 11-14)