Red, White, and Whole
Rajani LaRocca
Red, White, and Whole tells the story of Reha, an Indian-American girl growing up in America. It is not exactly the story of Rajani LaRocca, but she did borrow from her own experiences in writing it, so let us assume that Reha grows up in Louisville, Kentucky, as LaRocca did. We first meet Reha in her earliest memory at the age of three, then six, and then gradually the story continues to the age of fourteen. Reha is an ambitious girl who wants to become a doctor. At this point it is useful to look at LaRocca's biography:
RAJANI LAROCCA’s debut middle grade novel, Midsummer’s Mayhem, was a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year, an Indies Introduce selection, and an Indie Next pick. Rajani was born in India, immigrated to the United States when she was a baby, and grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, she practices medicine and lives outside Boston with her family.
Also too, Red, White, and Whole was a Newbery honor book. (Like, wow! Impressive CV!) So I think we can safely assume that Reha did indeed grow up to be a doctor.
Red, White, and Whole is written almost entirely in poetry. (The only exceptions I remember are a few epistolary chapters in prose.) It's a quick read -- I believe I read it cover-to-cover in under two hours.
I wasn't sure when I started it if there was actually going to be a story, or if it was merely a series of vignettes about growing up Indian-American. In fact, there IS a story. It's a powerful one. It brought tears to my jaded 66-year-old eyes more than once. You should probably read this yourself before you give it to a child. It's not a light read.