Red, White, and Whole

I got Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca from the library after seeing it was one of the Newbery honor books for this year. The book description reads, "Reha feels torn between two worlds: school, where she’s the only Indian American student, and home, with her family’s traditions and holidays. But Reha’s parents don’t understand why she’s conflicted—they only notice when Reha doesn’t meet their strict expectations. Reha feels disconnected from her mother, or Amma, although their names are linked—Reha means 'star' and Punam means 'moon'—but they are a universe apart. Then Reha finds out that her Amma is sick. Really sick. Reha, who dreams of becoming a doctor even though she can’t stomach the sight of blood, is determined to make her Amma well again. She’ll be the perfect daughter, if it means saving her Amma’s life."

This book was so good! It was written in verse and was a quick, engaging read. At the beginning, I was just like, Oh, this is a nice read, but wasn't really sure if the book was super special or meaningful--but once I hit the climax of the book, I was hooked. The book was pretty heart-wrenching and had me full-on sobbing and repeating, "This is a terrible book" (even though it wasn't actually terrible). It was a beautiful read and definitely one I'd recommend to others. I loved the various characters and thought they were well-developed even for a short book, and I also thought the book taught some meaningful lessons.

Rating: * * * (3/3 = Loved it)