This all begins to fall apart though as ignorance and racism clash as Meena encounters first hand how hurtful racism and ignorance can be and she struggles to understand the relationships between people and their ideas. The story tells of exotic food, exquisite clothing and late night dinner parties where her parent’s Punjabi friends swap stories of The Partition and a life far more exciting than the daily humdrum life in Tollington in the Midlands.Īs the book progresses, Meena seems to fit in quite well with the other children and the family are certainly accepted, admired even, by the community. Meena's rich cultural heritage provides a colourful background to the story. She seems tough and streetwise to Meena and Meena fights earnestly for her attention and approval. Meena makes friends with Anita, a slightly older girl who is the self-proclaimed leader of a motley gang of outcasts and outsiders. The book follows Meena during her pre-teen years as she is desperate to fit in with the other children in her neighbourhood while forever feeling like an outsider because she is “different”. Anita and Me by Meera Syal is the story of a young Punjabi girl growing up in the fictional English village of Tollington in the Midlands in the 1970s.
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