Neela VaswaniReseñas

4.5*

I really loved that this audiobook was performed with accents that I imagine the characters would really have.
For a school pen pal project, Meena and River selected each other based on being able to connect by writing letters rather than email. They were both open to learning about the other's cultures, and being their true selves. River shares his concerns about mountaintop removal mining happening very near his town. Meena shares her sadness at leaving her grandma behind, and concerns about her family not being able to afford an apartment & the woman they stay with being harassed by the landlord. They both have fathers who are rarely home due to out-of-state job sites.
I think this story would be good for middle schoolers to learn about being open to other cultures. There were a few instances where I, as an adult, felt there was more explanations than would be normal, and I often felt that both young people were writing much lengthier letters than anyone would. But perhaps a younger reader would just accept that and go with the flow of the tale.
I'm thinking of saving this audiobook a couple more years until my grandkids will be closer to middle school age for listening to it.½

A visual feast, a simple but deep story, a delight. Urban, mixed-race, girl perspective. Just lovely.

Recommended Ages: Gr. 5-6

Plot Summary:

Setting: 2008-9, NYC and Kentucky, the mountains and Meena's hometown in India

Characters:
Meena Joshi - 12 yo,
Daddy - works 2 hours away at a restaurant in New Jersey
Mum - a little cranky with her husband away
Kiku - Meena's older brother, 6 ft tall, supportive of her in so many ways
Mrs. Lau - rents a rent-controlled apartment in NYC's Chinatown to Meena and her family, has a dog named Cuba, is like a babysitter and friend to Meena, in ESL classes even though she's lived in the US twice as long as she lived in Hong Kong
Ana Maria - Kiku's secret girlfriend
Anjali - Meena's cousin in India, Dadi died in her lap
Dadi - Meena's precious grandmother
River Justice - 12 y/o, has a dog named Rufus
Mark Combs - plays video games and basketball with River but doesn't want to hear his deep inner thoughts.
Mom - has awful migraines, keeps herself in her room and doesn't perform any typical mom duties

Recurring Themes: friendship, racism, family, parents working away from home, New York City, mountaintop removal, advocating, environmentally conscious, connection, grandparents, Obama election

Controversial Issues:
pg 9 - "she named [her dog] after the country her best lover came from"
pg 26 - "he used to say the N-word all the time"
pg 37 - "A crazy man called us terrorists. Then Kiku called the man an _______ and the security guard made us leave the library. I've never heard Kiku say a bad word before."
pg 39 - "but now I walk fast, too, and I sometimes say 'what the hell'"
pg 39 - "Kiku says tourists who come here get drunk"
pg 49-50 - "Kiku says Christians think that everyone should change to be like them or go to hell."
pg 50 - "I had to ask him what 'the N-word' means. He told me, and then he said a white person who uses the N-word hates Indiana people, too."
pg 60 - "Yes, I am a Christian but I don't think you're going to hell."
pg 78 - "Kiku says that everyone in the South wants to hang us by our necks from trees."
pg 85 - "Valentina says the Broadway version [of A Chorus Line] is reallllly dirty, so the drama teacher cut a bunch of songs and changed the words to others.
pg 86 - "I don't want to kiss anyone (blech) but it is interesting to hear about."
pg 103 - "You bet your ass I did" enjoy pulling the lever to vote for Obama
pg 104 - "Last year in history we read about a student in China who stood in front of a tank when the government didn't want to listen to any young people's complaints."
pg 106 - references to Twilight and The Hunger Games
pg 133 - "called me a tree-hugging faggot
pg 134 - basketball coach said "that other team of faggots beat us."
pg 156 - stupid, gay, faggot - none are meant to hurt anyone on this page, just the characters learning the meaning
pg 207 - "he said the country was going to hell, and he called Obama the N-word.
pg 234 - "Hell, yes!"
pg 253 - references "To Kill a Mockingbird"
pg 293 - references "David Copperfield"

Personal Thoughts: I could barely finish this book because of the writing, but I thought the big themes were ok. I thought the many references to the culture in the 2000's outdated it too quickly (iPods), I didn't like the use of too many "swears," and I really didn't like the mention of too many things that were beyond the typical elementary kid, such as The Hunger Games, To Kill a Mockingbird, etc. I thought the kids acted younger than their 12 years in a way that felt inauthentic. I thought the writing was a bit didactic and I didn't get to know the characters well enough although I could definitely tell there were strong connections between the main characters and their grandmothers. Because it was written in pen pal letters with a lot of commenting on what their previous letter asked/said, there was too much repetition. I think Meena and Kiku had a possibly unrealistic sibling relationship because it was so perfect, even though Meena complained they argued. Kiku went above and beyond to talk to her about her stuff, he can read Meena's mind and help her with exactly what she needs. I also hate that this book perpetuates the single story of POC, even if River and his dad change their opinions. River sometimes talks about the only Indians as an "other," yet he also asks Meena questions to learn. He is open minded and willing to share his change of thought. I'm not sure that many other people in their small coal town of Kentucky were pro-Obama. Even though River and Mamaw faced criticism by some people in their town for being Obama supports, and called tree-huggers, it seemed like they one family of quite a few.

Genre: realistic fiction

Pacing: slow, no big problem or solution
Characters: medium-poor
Frame: iPod, music and books the readers are not familiar with
Storyline:

Activity:½

This story is so special. I loved every minute spent reading/ listening to this book.

I received a free copy of this book through the goodreads giveaway. This is my honest opinion and is in no way affected by this.
This had some beautiful pictures in it. I really enjoyed seeing them. My daughter however didn't much. It didn't really seem to hold her attention.

I entirely enjoyed this recorded book delightfully narrated by the authors, Vaswani with ringing South Asian-accented English and House with a thick, drawling Appalachian twang. The novel's alternating letters begin as a middle school class assignment. Meena, an Indian immigrant living illegally in a rent-controlled apartment in NYC's Chinatown, and River, who lives in a coal-mining region of Kentucky, write letters because neither has regular access to technology. As their correspondence continues, they share their commonalities (both fathers work away from home and both have strong relationships with a grandparent) and differences (Meena will describe both the decision to shave her legs and her work helping her elderly Chinese-American neighbor whose dog "Cuba"is named after her best lover, while River recounts the triumphs and tragedies of his basketball team and his mother's struggles with depression).

There are politics embedded in the characters' experiences--Meena's surrounding immigration, citizenship & affordable housing in New York, River's around the effects of mountaintop removal mining on the local economy & community. Neither are subtle, but they lend gravity to the friendship & an eventual means for them to meet. While all is not resolved at the end, the book ends on a hopeful note.

This would make a enagaging title for Seniors when we study immigration.

I entirely enjoyed this recorded book delightfully narrated by the authors, Vaswani with ringing South Asian-accented English and House with a thick, drawling Appalachian twang. The novel's alternating letters begin as a middle school class assignment. Meena, an Indian immigrant living illegally in a rent-controlled apartment in NYC's Chinatown, and River, who lives in a coal-mining region of Kentucky, write letters because neither has regular access to technology. As their correspondence continues, they share their commonalities (both fathers work away from home and both have strong relationships with a grandparent) and differences (Meena will describe both the decision to shave her legs and her work helping her elderly Chinese-American neighbor whose dog "Cuba"is named after her best lover, while River recounts the triumphs and tragedies of his basketball team and his mother's struggles with depression).

There are politics embedded in the characters' experiences--Meena's surrounding immigration, citizenship & affordable housing in New York, River's around the effects of mountaintop removal mining on the local economy & community. Neither are subtle, but they lend gravity to the friendship & an eventual means for them to meet. While all is not resolved at the end, the book ends on a hopeful note.

This would make a enagaging title for Seniors when we study immigration.

The format worked really well and provided a nice glimpse of two very different American experiences that are nevertheless very similar. I found myself invested in both families and wonder how their eventual meeting would go.

Narrated by the authors. Meena lives in New York CIty. River lives in Kentucky. They become old-school pen pals, sending written letters by mail and soon regarding the other as a best friend. They share life's ups and downs: Meena's family lives illegally in a rent-control apartment and her artistic ability gets her involved in the school play; River adores his grandmother and joins her in protesting mountain-top removal after a tragic accident. You have to set aside what you know about average kids to believe that two kids would write such lengthy articulate letters, and the message of "we are all the same even though we're different" is pretty obvious. Vaswani sounds like the young girl that Meena is but House's deep voice has a disconcerting effect for River. However, House's soft Southern accent and storytelling manner makes for a gentle listening experience, and listeners may forgive his manly tone after awhile.

Letters back and forth between two pen pals: a girl who recently immigrated from India and a boy who lives in Kentucky. This might be good to pair with Andrew Clement's book "Extra Credit".

River a 13 year old from Kentucky and Meena a 13 year old from India living in New York City learn about each others lives through letters as pen pals. They soon find out that they actually have a lot in common. The premise of this book is so interesting! I loved the start of it and the way it was written, as letters to each other, so creative.

My only problem is that I felt like the authors, tried to hard. Each chapter was written, in the point of view of 13 years, as a letter. But, I felt like the story was dragged out so far and I couldn't find the voice of the characters. Because, I felt like the authors tried too hard to sound like a 13 year old.

Though, I think you should give this book a try anyway, its unique and quite interesting.

River a 13 year old from Kentucky and Meena a 13 year old from India living in New York City learn about each others lives through letters as pen pals. Great insight into their different lives but also how each has some semblance .

Told (and written) in alternating letters, two unlikely kids become very close and reveal their "own true selves" through their pen pal relationship. River, from Kentucky, lives in coal mining country miles away from the heart of New York City, where India-born Meena lives in a rent-controlled apartment with her family. As this friendship blossoms, deeper issues are slowly revealed. Death and sadness are intertwined with ordinary tween angst and joys, but also bigger, more global issues affect each of these two. For River, mountain top removal suddenly is in his backyard, with shattering consequences and for Meena, issues of citizenship and gentrification in rent-controlled apartments mean that she is acutely aware of her tenacious place in the fabric of America, all the while yearning for a sense of home.

What connects these two unlikely friends are the qualities we look for and nurture in our real, true friends. While they may never have connected had they gone to the same school, their friendship grows through their letters and shared values, as they open each other's eyes to a new way of seeing.

Grades 5-8.

River, a boy living in Eastern Kentucky, and Meena, an immigrant from India living in New York City, become pen pals and subsequently best friends as they share their life experiences and discover similarities between them. In an epistolary format, River and Meena tell their stories, as River is dealing with mountaintop removal in his town that results in a disaster at his school and Meena deals with her parents trying to become American citizens while living illegally in a rent-controlled apartment. Both characters have fathers that live away from their families for work, and the letters explore the impact this has on the families. The characters are realistically formed and the stories are engaging, showing readers how all people can relate to one another.

A good book about two countries, India and America. The story is about two pen friends, Mena and River. Both are witting to each other from far away. Meena actually immigrated to New York where she stays with her mom while her dad works in India. These are the protagonist of the story. They share some different experiences throughout the letters they write to each other. At the end of the book, River is going to New York to meet Meena and her family. Meena's name is actually an Arabic word that meaning "Port" or "Port City" and the boy from Kentucky's name is River so they are born with the same age and name. This book is recommended for fourth and fifth graders.

The message of this book is acceptance in a diverse American society. There were times when the topics of personal feelings, loss, family, school worries, etc were endearing and thoughtfully conveyed. Meena and River's affections for their grandmothers , parents and dogs were good examples of the similarities humans from diverse cultures can find. The stress of comparing oneself to another like Meena compares herself to Marvel or the pressures of handling peer's comments like River faces on the basketball team are relatable incidences. However more times than I thought necessary I found topic choices rather contrived. I do not feel that the pen pals of the stated ages would have written in this way to one another. In one segment great attention is given to how Meena views a gay youth. Terms such as faggot were used, stereotypical descriptions were made, some gay lifestyle details were shared and her conclusions were not based on any family bias or input, but on today's politically correct mantras. This detailed and potentially offensive section would curb my use of this book in the classroom for any child under the age of 16. The authors' agendas are clear and multiple times throughout the book they are preaching to their readers about the evils of the rich and big business in contrast to the helplessness or victimization of certain communities. For example, the mining company operates outside of the parameters of the EPA while the Kentucky community stands helplessly by as the school is crushed by loose boulders The authors pack the story with too many current social topics so that the reader is left with more of a "feeling" about the topic rather than balanced information and well rounded arguments. It is unnecessary drama intended to stir emotions and political/social activism-- not a story for elementary aged children.

Mina, an immigrant from India living in New York City's Chinatown, selects River, a boy in Kentucky from a list of penpals offered by her teacher. The two become close, learning of all their similarities in spite of the obvious differences. This novel is episotolery, a collection of their letters to each other.

SAME SUN HERE is a book written for middle grades readers, but it is a book that should be read by people of all ages. In it, pen pals Meena and River spend almost a year writing to each other and sharing their lives with an authentic openness that I have found comes with written correspondence.

From the beginning of this little book, I loved the voice of twelve-year-old Meena Joshi. Her first line to River is, "I cannot tell from your name is you are a boy or a girl so I will just write to you like you are a human being." With that, she sets one of the major themes of the book: people are just people, no matter their gender or race or any of the other characteristics that can sometimes divide us.

River Justice (who is a boy) is an equally compelling character, and the exchanges between River and Meena detail an exciting ten months in both of their lives. Their correspondence gives voice to some of the issues of our day including problems with rent control and the horrors of mountaintop removal. Meena's letters were written by Neela Vaswani and Silas House penned River's letters, and both authors dazzled me at times with their writing. The open discussions between Meena and River about discrimination and cultural differences teach a lot about tolerance without being preachy, and the many similarities that Meena and River share illustrate perfectly how two seemingly very different individuals can have a whole lot in common.

The pictures and poems sprinkled throughout the book enhance the text, and I found myself craving more of Meena's drawings as I read.

My only concern is that in an effort to teach tolerance and to tell people to avoid stereotypes, those in the book who are intolerant are often depicted as stereotypes. That said, the book is written in the voices of two preteens, so the lack of nuance in drawing those periphery characters is certainly in keeping with the tone of the book. My concern is that those who may benefit most from reading SAME SUN HERE would tune its lessons out because of that.

All in all, this is an almost perfect book, and I was sad to say good-bye to Meena and River at the end of it.

The author of this book, Neela Vaswani, writes about her life, her parents’ and grandparents’. What makes it special is that her mother is Irish-Catholic and her father Sindhi-Indian. Who is she? Which culture does she belong to? What is it like to belong to two cultures, and not just two cultures but many, many cultures? The setting is New York and India, the latter half of the 20th Century.

This book is a mix of historical facts, poetical writing and philosophical musings. It deals with a plethora of subjects: museums, illness, suffering, courage, religion, turtles, beauty, mehndi, race, homosexuality, love, individuality…… You don’t learn, but rather you experience and come to understand the values of both belonging to a culture and NOT belonging, i.e. learning who you are as an individual. What makes you you and who do you want to be. It is a book of both fact and fiction and great writing.

You flip from subject to subject. There is a connection and often that connection is philosophical.

There are wonderful lines:

To me, the point of love is to overcome difference. Nothing is too hard for love. Not threats, not a life time of alienation, not money, not religion, not skin, not ruined reputation, not illness, not gigantic corporations with a long reach, not famine, genocide, poverty, government, not the power of one’s raising. Nothing is too hard for love. Nothing. (page 133)

Keep in mind I don’t enjoy books focused on romance….because few can capture its essence properly.

Neither am I religious, but what does that really mean?

Once after reading about Partition, I told her I didn’t believe in God anymore because religion caused too many terrible things. She was grading papers and mumbled, “Thomas, Thomas, thou art Didymus.” Then her face crumbled. She looked up at me, sharp, angry, and asked, “What does God have to do with religion?” It was enough, that sentence separated the two in my mind and heart. (page 83)

This is a conversation between mother and daughter.

I could go on and on, example after example, I just know that this author had me considering many varied themes, and often she projected them in a new light. Some sections were less interesting, but maybe it will be those themes that interest you. You should not zip through this book. It is best to stop and think where you yourself stand.

There are many black and white photos. They add to the book; you can see who she is speaking about.

Completed April 30, 2013

River lives in Kentucky and witnesses the mountaintop mining that is destroying his natural surroundings. River's dad works in offshore drilling since he was laid off as a coal miner with the arrival of MTR.

Meena lives in NYC, an immigrant from India. Her apartment is in Chinatown. She lives with her mother, brother, and father who only comes home one weekend a month from his job in a NJ restaurant.

As the two young people describe in their letters their diverse lives, we see the things that they have in common. Both have dogs, absent fathers, dangerous living conditions, and dear grandmothers whose influence is greater than their parents. Both children suffer a great loss.

I love the writing about New York City,especially when Meena goes to the library and helps Mai teach her parents to become citizens. The depiction of Meena's family is more sympathetic even though River experiences a melodramatic disaster. Something about his parents doesn't ring true, or the writing just doesn't get it across. We wonder what his mother's ailment really is, and how it can be cured by the simple re-appearance of his father.

I suspect it is because the two writers responsible for the two sets of letters do not have equal gifts, and Neela Vaswani comes out ahead. Still this novel is timely (about MTR, immigrant issues) and easy to read with the letter format.

Co-authors Silas House and Neela Vaswani join forces in this epistolary middle-grade novel, exploring, through their characters' correspondence with one another, the differences and commonalities in the lives of a Kentucky coal-miner's son and the daughter of recent Indian immigrants, studying to become citizens in New York City. Although River Dean Justice and Meena Joshi come from different places, and lead very different lives, they also share many of the same experiences, from coping with the absence of a father, whose work has taken him far away, to feeling just a little bit out-of-step with those around them. When tragedy strikes in both of their lives, their letters to one another provide an avenue for expression, and their strong friendship an important source of strength.

Chosen as our September selection over in The Children's Fiction Book-Club to which I belong, Same Sun Here touches upon many important themes, from family relationships and the stresses put upon those relationships by separation, to environmental stewardship and the terrible consequences when people ignore their responsibility of care, for both earth and people. Unlike some readers, I really appreciated the fact that politics, whether one defines that in terms of elections or of personal activism, was featured so prominently here. Children, after all, live in the same political world as the rest of us, and are affected by many of the same economic and social factors as adults, so it was good to see some recent issues - the 2008 presidential election, mountain top removal coal-mining in Appalachia, rent-control and abusive landlords in New York City - being depicted in a book intended for them. I also really appreciated the format of the book itself, and think that having two different authors pen the two protagonists' letters was an inspired choice, leading to believably different voices for River and Meena.

All in all, this was a strong book, one with engaging characters and an always interesting, often poignant story. I came away with a desire to read more by both authors.

This was one one of those books that five pages in you start thinking "Oh this is special". I tried to make it last, but still only made it about a day and a half.

Loved, loved this book. It was a true delight. Listened to it on audio book, which I highly recommend because it is narrated by the authors. One young man in Kentucky and one young girl from India who now lives in Chinatown in NY become pen pals. The book is a year of their correspondence,the highs and lows of life--it was wonderful!

It's hard to imagine kids being pen pals these days but they both seem to enjoy exchanging lengthy letters with one another. This story grew on me. The main characters are interesting and the voices are unique. The people in the girl's life are more vividly realized. There's lots in this story to discuss. A good book for class or small group reading.