An American Brat

August 30, 1993
Again demonstrating her remarkable ability to convey adolescent emotions, Sidhwa paints an entertaining, often hilarious portrait of 16-year-old Feroza Ginwalla's adventures in the U.S. Feroza's parents (members of the family readers will remember from The Crow Eaters ) send her here from an increasingly fundamentalist Pakistan in 1978, hoping exposure to worldly ways will soften the girl's conservative attitudes. Feroza's uncle Manek, a student at MIT, guides her through a breathtaking carnival of glossy magazines, designer jeans and deodorants. Although shy, Feroza is temperamental, strong-willed and eager to learn. She enrolls in a small Idaho college; her extracurricular education includes learning how to cope with decrepit apartments, furniture from the Salvation Army, a libidinous roommate, a friend who steals from her to support his drug habit, bland cooking and street language. When a romance with an American man misfires, Feroza realizes that she alone can heal herself and that she has grown to love her new country despite its flaws. Not just another immigrant's tale, this chronicle of a strong, intensely alive young woman's emotional growth is gripping.