Born Confused a story about 17 year old Dimple Lala an Indian Girl growing up in New Jersey. Dimple Lala rejects her immigrant parents old ideas and ultimatley struggles between her Indian and American identity. She sees her brown skin and wide hips as being an outkast. Dimple Lala is an avid photographer and takes many pictures including of her best friend Gwyn. Dimple Lala compares herself to Gwyn who is a great student, beautiful,skinny and has independent life Dimple Lala wants. Dimple Lala compares herself to Gwyn constantly. "In our case the rich girl who lives like an orpahn and the little brown girl who existed as if she were still umbilically attached to her parents." Dimple Lala just got over a breakup with her boyfriend, and now her parents have found a boy named Karsh who they find good for her. Dimple Lala first doesn't like boy, but soon begins to fall for him.

This is a great book that I would recommend to anyone. It's a long book (500 pgs.) that will keep you reading. The book deals with so many issues like love, identity, and friendship. The story is very realistic even though it's fiction. So if you want a long read with a great story and drama I would definitely reccomend this book! ( )

Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier is about Dimple Lala, an Indian girl who has lived in New Jesery her whole life, with her slightly goofy but loving parents (they seem goofy in the way they are so earnest about everything). She feels like she doesn’t really fit in anywhere, being too American for her Indian family and too Indian for American teenagers. She wants to be more like her effortlessly popular and lovable blond best friend, Gwen. But what Gwen wants is to be more exotic and soon Dimple feels as though Gwen is stealing everything from her including her culture, her family, and the one boy she feels like she finally has a connection with, Karsh – the suitable not so suitable boy, the one her parents want her to be with and the one who understands how she feels about her culture and her photography. This book is very interesting, very humorous, and all of the situations feel very real and believable. It’s a very good coming of age story. I think it’s especially good because as she learns more about her culture through her parents and her cool cousin, Dimple realizes that instead of wanting changing herself, she realizes she likes who she is.

This is a wonderful coming-of-age story set in New Jersey (and occasionally New York City) told through the eyes of Dimple Lala, an American-Born Confused Indian. Dimple has been focused on her photography for the past few years, a hobby that she hopes to turn into a career one day. But while hiding behind her lens, her best friend Gwyn begins to steal parts of Dimple's life: her culture, her loves and her identity. During the summer before her senior year, Dimple descovers who she is and who she ultimately wants to be. ( )

Born confused... ABCD (American Born Confused Desi - "Desi" meaning "Indian")... Marvelous, witty, insightful writing. The protagonist is a 17-year old daughter of Indian immigrants. And on behalf of my own daughter, I felt that I could acutely relate to the soul searching of this character. I know that my daughter have gone through similar agonizing while growing up (even more so, probably, as she was the product of two different cultures). The author has captured so skillfully the nuances of the life of the immigrant family - the sadness for the world left behind, the unavoidable adjustments which might be out of character in the new land but still necessary, the compassionate humor of trying to fit in, and the triumph of some old truths. The story is told eloquently and beautifully. ( )

This novel portrays the conflicts of many first generation American teens of immigrant parents who are often treated as foreigners in their own country and must also find a balance between fitting into American teen culture and also honoring their parents heritage. The story is a witty combination of romance and self discovery, that many teens regardless of ethnicity, especially teen girls looking for strong female characters or romance will love.