Waiting on Wednesday: The Whole Story of Half A Girl

The Whole Story of Half A Girl by Veera Hirandani

Release Date: January 10, 2012

After her father loses his job, Sonia Nadhamuni, half Indian and half Jewish American, finds herself yanked out of private school and thrown into the unfamiliar world of public education. For the first time, Sonia's mixed heritage makes her classmates ask questions—questions Sonia doesn't always know how to answer—as she navigates between a group of popular girls who want her to try out for the cheerleading squad and other students who aren't part of the "in" crowd.

At the same time that Sonia is trying to make new friends, she's dealing with what it means to have an out-of-work parent—it's hard for her family to adjust to their changed circumstances. And then, one day, Sonia's father goes missing. Now Sonia wonders if she ever really knew him. As she begins to look for answers, she must decide what really matters and who her true friends are—and whether her two halves, no matter how different, can make her a whole


-Sounds like a very timely novel in these harsh economic times. This book sounds like it will thankfully be less about the struggle of being bicultural/biracial and more about the hardship of having an unemployed parent.

What are you waiting on this week? Do you know of other YA books that deal with unemployment in the present?