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Bras, Boys, and Blunders: Juliet & Romeo in Bahrain
by
Vidya Samson (Goodreads Author)
What’s a girl gotta do to get her first bra, her first kiss, her first love?
If you thought the Middle East was all about fatwas and burkhas, think again. Join the fun as Veena, a naive teen from India, bungles her way through adolescence on the island of Bahrain. Laugh out loud as she deals with the intricacies of stubborn bras, crazy parents, racist classmates, first love...more
If you thought the Middle East was all about fatwas and burkhas, think again. Join the fun as Veena, a naive teen from India, bungles her way through adolescence on the island of Bahrain. Laugh out loud as she deals with the intricacies of stubborn bras, crazy parents, racist classmates, first love...more
Kindle Edition, 222 pages
Published
June 6th 2012
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Mar 18, 2013
Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
coming of age theme readers
Shelves:
laughed-myself-silly-while-reading,
favorites,
indian-hero-or-heroine,
character-diversity,
2013-200s-club-challenge,
yearly-reading-challenge-2013,
kindle-book,
coming-of-age,
young-adult,
religion-plays-a-big-role,
school-days,
metafiction,
thc-review,
middle-east-arabian-setting,
interracial-romance,
irr-a-to-z-challenge-2013,
dangerous-hero-general-challenge-20
Synopsis
Fifteen-year-old Veena Solomon lives in Bahrain with her parents and brother, a transplanted Indian in an Arab country, although she attends Catholic school. Her family moved there to seek a better life than the one available in India. Her mother is Catholic by faith and worrier by profession (although she also works as a teacher in Veena's school). Veena is trying to figure out what she believes herself, especially when her fervent prayers to grow breasts and for gorgeous Rashid to fall...more
Fifteen-year-old Veena Solomon lives in Bahrain with her parents and brother, a transplanted Indian in an Arab country, although she attends Catholic school. Her family moved there to seek a better life than the one available in India. Her mother is Catholic by faith and worrier by profession (although she also works as a teacher in Veena's school). Veena is trying to figure out what she believes herself, especially when her fervent prayers to grow breasts and for gorgeous Rashid to fall...more
How many of us outside the Middle East and India have any idea what life there is like? "Bras, Boys & Blunders" shows us that, cultural differences aside, teens the world over still struggle with the same universal issues of self-image, peer pressure, the opposite sex, and parents.
As with the author's first novel, this one is extremely well edited, still something of a rare treat among indie-published novels, and like that novel, this one takes the reader into her world with the same humorou...more
As with the author's first novel, this one is extremely well edited, still something of a rare treat among indie-published novels, and like that novel, this one takes the reader into her world with the same humorou...more
Are teenagers the same everywhere? If that question means ‘do they all have the same insecurities’ then the answer seems to be yes. Veena at fifteen is, in her opinion, woefully inept at anything that doesn’t involve being the smartest student in the class. She doesn’t know how to get the boy she likes to notice her. She is looking for a cure for what she sees as her boy-like figure, and her family could star on ‘Are You the Biggest Bunch of Dysfunctional People in the World’ and easily take hom...more
3.5/5 stars
This is an interesting story. An Indian girl attending a Christian school, where racism is alive and rampant, and girls who so much as speak to a boy alone are considered sluts. It's an interesting idea.
When the book starts, it's right in the middle of a sex ed class. Quite honestly, that made me worried about what the rest of the book would be like. Luckily, things turned to other matters.
Veena has to deal with a lot of things, including her first haircut from a salon (which results...more
This is an interesting story. An Indian girl attending a Christian school, where racism is alive and rampant, and girls who so much as speak to a boy alone are considered sluts. It's an interesting idea.
When the book starts, it's right in the middle of a sex ed class. Quite honestly, that made me worried about what the rest of the book would be like. Luckily, things turned to other matters.
Veena has to deal with a lot of things, including her first haircut from a salon (which results...more
On general terms, I usually don't read YA literature. But the premise behind "Bras, Boys and Blunders" (BB & B) intrigued me, and, oh boy, was I in for a pleasant surprise! This is the story of Veena, a young girl growing in multicultural Bahrain. She is your typical teenager going through her typical teen crushes and obsessed about bra sizes. She gets chosen to play Juliet at the school play and from then on all He11 breaks loose. Our young protagonist claims she wants to become the "Indian...more
3.5. Perhaps you all know by now that I love an exotic location. So off the bat, I was intrigued by the setting of the book. I don't think I've ever read a book about Bahrain. You get only a small taste of the country but it was intriguing all the same.
What this book made me realize is that teenage girls are teenage girls, no matter where in the world they live! They all face the same issues with boys and growing up. In a way, it's sort of comforting to see that indeed, you are not the only one...more
What this book made me realize is that teenage girls are teenage girls, no matter where in the world they live! They all face the same issues with boys and growing up. In a way, it's sort of comforting to see that indeed, you are not the only one...more
What’s a girl gotta do to get her first bra, her first kiss, her first love?
If you thought the Middle East was all about fatwas and burkhas, think again. Join the fun as Veena, a naive teen from India, bungles her way through adolescence on the island of Bahrain.
Dollycas's Thoughts
A great escape filled with laughter and teenage angst. Girls in the Middle East aren't very different than girls in the U.S. The girls in the story had to live with a few more rules but like girls everywhere they find...more
If you thought the Middle East was all about fatwas and burkhas, think again. Join the fun as Veena, a naive teen from India, bungles her way through adolescence on the island of Bahrain.
Dollycas's Thoughts
A great escape filled with laughter and teenage angst. Girls in the Middle East aren't very different than girls in the U.S. The girls in the story had to live with a few more rules but like girls everywhere they find...more
Featuring a smart, witty teen's observations on family, race, and self-esteem, Bras, Boys and Blunders is a story that will open your heart and keep you laughing.
I had a strong feeling that I would enjoy Bras, Boys and Blunders as soon as I read the first page. The story opens with main character Veena at school, in a sex ed class. The students love making their teachers squirm, asking question after awkward question about reproduction. This made for a very funny, attention-grabbing scene, and...more
I had a strong feeling that I would enjoy Bras, Boys and Blunders as soon as I read the first page. The story opens with main character Veena at school, in a sex ed class. The students love making their teachers squirm, asking question after awkward question about reproduction. This made for a very funny, attention-grabbing scene, and...more
This book’s premise is very amusing. An Indian girl who starts attending a Christian school. That’s pretty much all you need to hear to know it’s going to be an interesting read.
There are so many funny moments in the book. This is definitely a light read, but it is packed with well-written scenes and fun dialogue. The scene where Veena gets a haircut is one of the best ones, I think, and it show the author’s real gift for comedic pacing.
I would have enjoyed a bit more character development as t...more
There are so many funny moments in the book. This is definitely a light read, but it is packed with well-written scenes and fun dialogue. The scene where Veena gets a haircut is one of the best ones, I think, and it show the author’s real gift for comedic pacing.
I would have enjoyed a bit more character development as t...more
A short review for a short book! When the author contacted me to review her novella, I was pretty intrigued. I don't know much about what it's like to grow up in Bahrain, but the plot sounded interesting and I thought maybe I would learn something, so I gave it a go.
Don't let the plain cover fool you; Bras, Boys, and Blunders is an entertaining coming of age novel set in Bahrain. This short novella follows Veena, a young girl growing up in Bahrain who is trying to navigate school, home life, and...more
Don't let the plain cover fool you; Bras, Boys, and Blunders is an entertaining coming of age novel set in Bahrain. This short novella follows Veena, a young girl growing up in Bahrain who is trying to navigate school, home life, and...more
Jul 19, 2012
Tee loves Kyle Jacobson
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
book-for-review-from-author,
july-2012
First I have to say that this book was funny. I really enjoyed it and it was a quick read. Veena is an Indian girl attending a Christian school. She is like a fish out of water because she has to learn to adapt to her surroundings. She will experience your typical teenage things like first crush, bullying and racism.
Veena will go through your everyday teenage stuff but it is how she handles it is what amazed me. She also gets the leading role in her school play and her mother seems to be shacke...more
Veena will go through your everyday teenage stuff but it is how she handles it is what amazed me. She also gets the leading role in her school play and her mother seems to be shacke...more
I loved this book as much as I loved Ms Samson's previous book Indian Maidens Bust Loose. This was a very funny and witty look at one teenagers life at a private catholic school in Bahrain. From racial tensions between students to crushes and bullying this story touches on a lot of current themes that teenagers deal with no matter where they live. A little serious and a lot funny and witty this was a great quick vacation read that I thouroghly enjoyed!
I loved this book! It’s a short read, but it’s great! I love how Ms. Samson takes things like race, culture, and religion, and makes the clashes between people funny! Too often, we get stuck in how horrible differences can be. No, no. The reactions can go very bad. However, with Ms. Samson’s approach, it’s easy to see how the world could be just a little different if we used humor instead of fear to deal with serious issues like this.
I love the setting! Bahrain has been added to my list of place...more
I love the setting! Bahrain has been added to my list of place...more
I really wanted to like this one because of the multi-cultural content, but I just never really got into it.
Set in a Catholic school in Bahrain, there are students from India, Pakistan, the US, and several other countries in attendance. It mainly follows the travails of an Indian girl trying to deal with all the normal teen quandaries.
Set in a Catholic school in Bahrain, there are students from India, Pakistan, the US, and several other countries in attendance. It mainly follows the travails of an Indian girl trying to deal with all the normal teen quandaries.
Love the way vidya samson protrayed her own teenage years in bras,boys, and blunders.
Review to come on thereadiacs.com
This book was very roughly written and I couldn't figure out if it was purposeful or not. This was a coming of age book about a teen girl from India.
Mar 29, 2013
Avid Reader
marked it as to-read
Mar 28, 2013
Meredith Mcalister
marked it as to-read
Mar 18, 2013
Morgan
marked it as to-read
Feb 17, 2013
Angela
marked it as to-read
Dec 29, 2012
Hope Barrett
marked it as to-read
Nov 29, 2012
Andréa
marked it as to-read
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Addicted to Book ...: Want to Read Rate this book Bras, Boys, and Blunders: Juliet & Romeo in Bahrain by Vidya Samson | 1 | 2 | Nov 22, 2012 02:45pm |
