Many Things At Once

ISBN: 0593643909

Author: Hiranandani, Veera

Condition: New

In this poignant picture book about family and belonging, the child of a Jewish mother and a South Asian father hears stories about her family history. Sometimes she doesn't feel Jewish enough or South Asian enough, but comes to realize you can feel--and be--many things at once.Based on the author's own family history, here is a moving story about a young girl from two different backgrounds. The girls mother tells her stories about her mother, a Jewish seamstress in Brooklyn, New York. She lived in a tiny two-bedroom apartment and sewed wedding dresses shimmering in satin and lace.Her father tells stories of his mother, the girls other grandmother, who liked to cook bubbling dal on a coal stove in Pakistan. They tell stories about how both sides came to America, and how, eventually, her parents met on a warm summer evening in Poughkeepsie.The girl sometimes feels as if she's the only one like me. One day, when she spots a butterfly in her yard, she realizes its okay to be different-no two butterflies are alike, after all. Its okay to feel alone sometimes, but also happy and proud. Its okay to feel-- and be-- many things at once.