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My Basmati Bat Mitzvah by Paula J Freedman

Summary

Tara, an Indian-American Jewish girl growing up in New York, is facing a very important event in her religious life: her bat mitzvah. Tara loves both her Indian and Jewish culture, and wants to find a way to integrate both in her special celebration. But it turns out to be more complex than she originally thinks. Tara’s mom thinks her bat mitzvah should be all Jewish, and she should save her Indian side for other times. Her friends question if she’s “Jewish enough” to have a bat mitzvah, and Tara isn’t sure what she should do. Can she trust her gut and include both her Indian and Jewish side in her celebration?

Favorite Character

Tara – I love how much she embraces her Indian and Jewish culture, and thinks hard about how to bring both of them into her bat mitzvah. She’s also an amazing friend – even to the girls at her school who are not nice to her.

Favorite Line 

 

Paula J Freedman often uses Tara’s lines to educate the audience to think critically about comments they may hear from their classmates. I particularly love this line,

“Gran once taught me a handy trick that I use all the time. She said to take any remark you suspect might be racist and substitute the word Jew. If you’re insulted by it, it’s probably racist. I wouldn’t stand for anyone saying all Jews were terrorists, or all Indians for that matter, so I stood up and let Ryan Berger have it, accidentally-on-purpose knocking the tray back into his stupid face” 

Fun Author Fact

Just as Tara’s family creates Jewish meals with Indian flavors, Paula Freedman creates Indian-Jewish recipes. On her website, she has a recipe for “Not Your Mother’s Matzoh Ball Soup” – which in Indian sambhar with matzoh balls! She also includes Tara’s favorite snack – popcorn with masala

Is this worth a book hangover?

I loved this book as a middle-grade read, and would love to share it with any middle schoolers in my life. While it’s not a book I’ll go back to regularly, I’m SO GLAD a book about a bi-racial girl celebrating her two identities together exists. 

Read These Next

For another book about a girl grappling with her identity, check out The Rearranged Life by Annika Sharma. Nithya’s life is set – she plans to be a doctor and make her Indian-American immigrant family proud.  Until she meets James, the sweet handsome kid in her chemistry class. As Nithya and James fall in love, Nithya must face (for the first time) the fact that her desires could destroy everything her parents have worked for. Check out our review here.

Post Author: Anisha

Anisha loves books, Gilmore Girls, and her Kuerig. She’s been reading mainstream YA since she was actually a young adult, and Jess is helping her expand her horizons with more diverse, interesting books from newer authors.

Filed under: Contemporary, podcast Tagged: batmitvah, boyfriend, diversity, family, friendsh, indian, jewish, relationships, We Need Diverse Books