Monsoon Summer

Rating:
Summary: What a delightful and satisfying read!
Review: I picked up a signed copy of Monsoon Summer at my favorite bookstore in NYC and just couldn't put it down! This book is so much fun!

Jasmine (Jazz) is a endearing and believable character whose insecurities and mistakes made me think of a younger me. Mitali Perkins captures those awkward teenage years and that first crush so clearly; you will feel like you are reliving it!

Perkins brings out the most beautiful details of India, and Pune (a city a few hours outside of Bombay) in particular. Her observations of caste and poverty are poignant. Most interesting are her views and charity and altruism.

What a delightful and satisfying read!

Rating:
Summary: I LOVED THIS BOOK!
Review: Immediatly I was drawn in and felt a kinship with Jazz(short for Jasmine), a bright and creative young woman who, like most of us, doesn't see her own beauty. I got to really know Jazz, her family and friends on her trip to India. It was encouraging to see Jazz find joy in her life as she focused on the needs of others in the Indian orphanage that was her mother's first home. The sweet love story between Jazz and her best friend Steve warmed my heart and made me cry happy tears. I didn't want the book to end - I want to know what happens next. I've already bought a few copies for young friends - I suggest you do the same.

Rating:
Summary: Monsoon Summer
Review: Jasmine (Jazz) is leaving a lot behind to go to India for the sumemr with her parents. She's got a lucrative business taking photos of tourists, and a best friend and business partner that she's secretly been in love with for a while now. But her parents, ever altruistic, have a grant to work at the orphanage in Pune where her mother grew up. Immersed in the steamy weather of monsoon season, Jazz faces Indian private school, an evolving long-distance relationship, charity and caste systems.

Jazz is an immensely likable protagonist, even when she's feeling sorry for herself, and the tangible detail of moonsoon season in India combined with a complex, engaging cast of characters makes this one book I'd recommend to anyone who wants something with more depth than Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, but none of the grinding despair of most of the latest crop of teen realism.

Rating:
Summary: A refreshing read
Review: Jazz resisted going to India for the summer with her family. Her mother, who was adopted by American parents had been born in India and had lived the first four years of her life in an orphanage. Now the mother was excited about returning to help the orphanage and the community around it with a medical clinic. However, Jazz had discovered her first love, her long time friend, Steve, and she yearned to stay at home and take care of the business that she and Steve had established.

The family packed up and moved to India during the Monsoon season. At first Jazz felt bitter and awkward, but she gradually started to feel comfortable. As the Monsoon brought new life to the land, Jazz discovered inner resources and contentment.

It was a pleasure to read a book with a family who cared about each other and who placed importance on family loyalty. The characters are well-written and appealing. Jazz may feel anxiety about the summer in India, she may consider herself a big unlovable girl, she may want to hide from the crowds who seem to have their eyes on her all the time, but she always comes across as someone who in the end will shine, and so she does. She scoffs at her mother's desire to give and help, but Jazz discovers that helping is part of her own personality, also.

Along with Jazz's adventures there is information about the people of India, how they dress, eat, live, and think. Danita, an orphaned girl that Jazz befriends, is determined to keep her two sisters with her, even if it means marrying a much older and physically repellant man. Danita and Jazz share their talents and make a difference in their lives.

Monsoon summer is touching and engrossing. I highly recommend it for those who want an easy to read and uplifting story about adjusting to another culture and discovering one's own self. The book is rated age 12 and up.

Rating:
Summary: Grow with Jazz
Review: Monsoon Summer transports an endearing mixed-race, Jasmine to the country of her mother's birth. The reader walks with her, experiencing the vibrant beauty and complexity of Indian culture as well as the inward journey of Jazz toward accepting her own beauty and complexity. Perkins does not shy away from the harder questions around poverty and injustice, raising the story a notch above mainsteam young adult literature. As Jazz's heart softens toward the poor, so does mine, a feeling that has stayed with me. A must read for mixed race youths or anyone else willing to probe their feelings about poverty.