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Anita and Me Meera Syal 9781565845299 Books

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Anita and Me Meera Syal 9781565845299 Books

An interesting story from the perspective of an Indian girl growing up in Britain. It is amusing as well as telling.


Tags : Anita and Me [Meera Syal] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <div> <I>Anita and Me</I>, which has been compared to <I>To Kill a Mockingbird</I>, tells the story of Meena,Meera Syal,Anita and Me,The New Press,1565845293,Literary,FICTION General,FICTION Literary,Fiction,Fiction - General,General,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)

Anita and Me Meera Syal 9781565845299 Books Reviews

Oh how I enjoyed this one my dad asked me to read it and I absolutley adored this book about the Kumar's living in the 1900's or so and racism she endured. It was hilarious at SSR I would be laughing my heart out, and everyone would look at me funny. It was sad, but enjoyable. Meena is not accepted into the English world, but doesn't seem to fit in with her Indian family. You can relate if you are a kid who lies a lot trying to make your life exciting. Meena is a very enjoyable character she's smart, funny, imaginitive, creative (same thing i guess), charming, and witty. This is a book as a kid I reccomend for everyone!
Many of us who have grown outside of India, may have experienced somewhat similar situations and reactions. This book must have been very personal to the person writing it, and we can smell whiffs of her childhood in some way. Overall, it was fair reading, though, at the end of it, I felt it did not affect me in any major way. Sweet but not fantastic.
A very wonderful and touching tale of a young Indian girl growing up in a small Midlands town in 1960s England. The book succeeds on two levels, both as the coming of age tale of young girl, dealing with her "differentness" and desire to assimilate, and as the story of a whole generation of immigrants from the subcontinent. In many ways it has that "young adult" book feel to it, lots of familiar clichéd plot devices and characters, but the nicely drawn setting makes it very different from what American readers may be used to. In particular, the use of slang stand out as particularly well-written. The only quibble I have is the jumbling of pop-culture references which don't seem to make any sense 1960's "To Kill A Mockingbird" is called a "new" book from America, whereas fashion references seem to place it as late 60s, whereas teen heartthrob references (Donny Osmond, Shaun Cassidy) seem to place it in the 70s, and skinhead fashions are of the 1968-9 era. These are minor annoyances though, and barely distract from the touching and sometimes gut wrenching story of a little girl learning about herself.
This book did what all good books do - it dragged me into the world of the characters. Meena is the 9 year old daughter of Indian immigrants, living in a small town called Tollington.
Through her eyes we see her world, her impatience to grow up, her wish to fit in with the local people, her naughty streak and her desire to befriend the bad girl of the area, Anita.
It's a tough time for Meena growing up in this town. She sounds like a local, yet doesn't look like them. She is accepted as one of 'them', yet when another Indian is beaten and ends up in hospital, openly jeered and ridiculed by her friends, she finds herself stuck with the knowledge that she is stuck with a foot in both worlds.
Her Namina (grandma) comes to stay and during this time Meena discovers and learns more about her family and history and slowly embraces the old customs and language.
It is an adventurous year for Meena, as she begins to see that people around her are not always what they appear to be.
Meera Syal has done a superb job in capturing the small world of a child. There are laughs, frowns and sighs to be had, whilst reading this wonderful tale of Meera. Can't wait to read more from this author.
Anita and Me by Meera Syal is actually one of those books where I found out it existed by seeing the film adaptation first. I am sometimes a little weary of reading books after I've already seen the film because film adaptations tend to alter somewhat from the novels themselves and I enjoyed the film thoroughly and didn't want to end up being disappointed with it once I had finished the book.

It has actually been sat on my bookshelf for about three years, never seemingly managing to get around to it; there always seemed to be books I wanted to read more. I'm not that ashamed I left it so long to read, not because the book is bad in any way but at the moment I had the time to actually sit and enjoy the book and take my time with it.

The story of Meena is a funny, sad, addictive page turner that sings of Indian culture all with a Brummie accent. She's a girl that longs for fish fingers and chips rather than chapattis. At the beginning of the novel we find Meena longing to shed her `Indian' coloured skin and fit in with Anita, the blonde haired `wench' from next door. As we read on however, it is so inspiring to see Meena grow into herself, accept her roots and actually learn to love and appreciate just how different she is. It's a teenager's novel at heart, set in the 60's where working class men are laid off and women are verbally announcing their sexuality to the world.

Syal writes with so much wit and humour that it's hard not to fall in love with Meena's voice. She has the exact attitude that makes young adults so funny and unique, but just as quickly; Syal can turn the story on its head and evoke emotion from the reader. It is one of those few novels that includes it all. Love, anger, racism, community, sex, culture, religion are to name but a few.

It can be hard to like central characters that at the beginning lie and steal unashamedly without guilt, but with Meena, you feel for her predicament, being stuck bang in the middle of a society in the midst of a social change, but also stuck in the body she was born with. It is a heart warming tale, one I urge all fans of YA to read. I haven't read many foreign culture stories before, not because I don't like them, but just because I am more of a fantasy fan, but it helps to learn more about the Indian culture, despite being set in Tollington via Birmingham.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book! Was true to 60s , not only in the UK but in NZ. It certainly bought back memories of my childhood in NZ
An interesting story from the perspective of an Indian girl growing up in Britain. It is amusing as well as telling.