A review by melogna
Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier

Born Confused is the story of Dimple Lala who is Indian by heritage but was born in America. As much as she tries to hide and be removed from her traditional Indian heritage, she can't, especially since her parents are trying to set her up with a "suitable boy" and her best friend Gwen thinks that being Indian is the newest fashion craze. Dimple's parents don't understand her and why she isn't "Indian enough" and Dimple doesn't understand why she can't just be American since that's what she is. As she begins to spend more time with her cousin Kativa and her girlfriend Sabrina, she starts to understand what it means to be Indian and why it's important. It helps that the "suitable boy" that her parents set her up with is named Karsh and is a DJ for Indian music. This is the story of trying to fit into different molds and learning who to be to be your true self. I enjoyed this book a lot and I loved Dimple as a main character. I thought she was smart and rational even if she did have a horrible best friend. Her inner struggles are completely real and how I imagine it would be to try and fit in when you feel so different. There is quite a bit of Indian language and slang so it can be confusing at points. I also did not like how the dialogue was written and sometimes it was hard to know who was saying what and if Dimple says something out loud or to herself but this could have on purpose to blur the lines between the outer and inner dialogue. I would recommend this book for middle school and high school 7-12.