"Seventeen-year-old Mira Fuller-Jensen was adopted by her moms at birth. All she knows about her biological mother is that she was a high-school student from India who went back to India after giving birth. Although Mira loves her moms, she's always felt like a misfit in her mostly white community. That starts to change when Nikhil Verma transfers to her school from Mumbai. They become fast friends and he helps Mira connect to her heritage through his family and their love for Indian cooking and Bollywood. Despite this new connection, Mira still feels left out of the Indian community, and like she will never fully belong anywhere. So when Mira finds an old box with letters addressed to her from her birth mother, she finally sees a way to fully capture that feeling of belonging. Her mother writes that if Mira can forgive her for having to give her up, she should find a way to travel to India for her 18th birthday and meet her mother at a designated place and time. With her birthday approaching, Mira knows she'll always regret it if she doesn't go. But is she actually ready for what she will learn? And in unlocking the secrets of her past, is Mira also unlocking her true feelings for Nikhil?"--

Ages 14-18

Grades 9-12