The Sunita Experiment [Paperback]

Mitali Perkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1994

When her grandparents come for a visit from India to California, thirteen-year-old Sunita finds herself resenting her Indian heritage and embarrassed by the differences she feels between herself and her friends.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sunita Sen, the eighth-grade heroine of this disarming first novel, is sure that her grandparents' protracted visit from India will ruin her social life. She wants only to be normal--but her mother, the college teacher, has traded in her wardrobe of tailored suits for a succession of sarees, and Sunita can no longer invite boys over. Torn between her love for her family and self-consciousness about their Indian traditions, Sunita walls herself off from everyone. Gradually, however, she learns to appreciate the possibilities of a cultural mingling. To Perkins's credit, this change occurs naturally and not as the direct result of any one conflict or event. Perkins combines her fresh, unaffected prose with moving bits of Indian poetry and lore, rendering this well-thought-out investigation of cultural identity doubly moving. Colorful material about Indian customs, language and religion is sturdily woven into a funny, honest and homespun story. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9-- When her (Eastern) Indian grandparents arrive for a year-long visit, outgoing eighth grader Sunita Sen feels caught between two cultures. Her Westernized upbringing is threatened when her parents discourage visits from boys; her cosmopolitan mother dons traditional dress and takes a sabbatical from her college teaching job; and the aroma of curry fills the house each day. Embarrassed by her heritage, Sunita withdraws from her classmates. But her friends are admirably patient and tolerate her rebuffs, and gradually she begins to appreciate her grandparents' wisdom and values. In a cathartic moment, she discovers that her mother has been under pressure, too, and is also unhappy with the family's altered lifestyle. This novel realistically addresses numerous issues, including Sunita's temporary rejection of an African-American classmate when both girls are referred to as "colored." Her adolescent angst over social acceptance, family discord, and personal identity will be familiar to readers; positive solutions and role models are presented for dealing with cultural differences, peer relationships, and domestic problems. --Gerry Larson, Chewning Junior High School, Durham, NC
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 179 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (Juv); 1 edition (April 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1562826719
• ISBN-13: 978-1562826710
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,440,709 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I write novels for young readers, speak at conferences, schools, and libraries, and chat about writing, books, and life between cultures. Visit me on Mitali's Fire Escape (mitaliblog.com) or track me at twitter.com/mitaliperkins.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Realistic portrayal of multi-cultural teens, July 26, 2005

By 

Peggy Tibbetts (Silt, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen (Originally published as: The Sunita Experiment) (Paperback)

Sunita Sen isn't black or white, red or yellow. She was born in Kolkata, India. For most of her life that was perfectly okay with her. In fact her nickname, Sunni matched her sunny, cheerful outlook. At the end of her 13th summer, she is on top of the world. She and Michael Morrison are seeing more and more of each other and looking forward to 8th grade. But her carefree American life is shattered when her grandparents arrive from India to spend a year with her family. Her mom takes a leave of absence from her job as a chemistry professor. She starts wearing sarees and cooking Indian food. To make matters worse, she informs Sunni that it's no longer okay to have boys come to visit. On top of all that, her new social studies teacher begins the school year with the topic of cultural diversity, which only makes Sunni even more aware of her differences. Suddenly -- and for all those reasons -- she withdraws from her friends and family. Torn between her desire to be a normal American teen and her love for her Indian family, Sunni struggles to meld the two cultures into her life. In the process she must face up to her own prejudices.

Sunni comes across as so genuine that any teen will easily relate to her dilemma. Through her exploration and discovery of her heritage, Perkins offers readers an intimate view of Indian culture. "The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen" is a sensitive and realistic portrayal of the unique pressures facing multi-cultural teens.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for young Indian-Americans... and their parents too, February 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Sunita Experiment (Paperback)

In the Sunita Experiment, Mitali Perkins captures the "culture clash" issues that young Indian-Americans face in school and at home. Perkins' title character, Sunita, took me back to my junior high days when I was trying to figure out how Indian or how American I wanted to be. Throughout this book, I was able to identify with Sunita's emotions and behavior. Like Sunita, I was sometimes annoyed with Indian traditions and longed to be more "American". At other times, I was proud of my Indian heritage.

I am 23 yrs old now. I grew up in Wisconsin where the Indian-American community is very small. I would have loved to have read this book when I was in grade school. This book would have made me realize that the feelings I had were not unusual. And my family wasn't so weird after all. I recommend this book to all young Indian-Americans. Parents too could use this book as a way to better understand their children's feelings.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well-written and intelligent, July 22, 1999

By 

Abi-Ru Shirzan "Rumi Circle" (Twinsburg, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sunita Experiment (Paperback)

Both my 9-year-old Bengali-American daughter and American me enjoyed this book. Sunita, the protagonist, is NOT "too good to be true." Much of her charm lies in the honesty with which she is depicted. She can be thoughtless and even cruel, and yet she is always an attractive heroine.

Children of two cultures may well identify with the embarrassment Sunita feels when her "different " grandparents come to town and her parents are transformed into traditional Indians. Any young woman is likely to feel that Sunita's problems and her ways of coping with and avoiding them are much like her own. Educational without being "preachy." A fine read!