I really enjoyed this book, which was lent to me by my sister (and which is now being labelled and returned to her!). Tragic and comic in equal measures, it's about the struggle to be accepted, and the ups and downs of friendships, families and communities. I think Meera Syal is a wonderful writer, and she captures brilliantly that longing to belong to a group...

From the back cover...
"This is a funny sad book. It made me long to be a kid again, yet grateful I'd grown up." Jo Brand
Like every nine-year-old girl, Meena can't wait to grow up and break free from her parents, but as the daughter of the only Punjabi family in the mining village of Tollington, her daily struggle for independence is different from most. She wants fishfingers and chips, not just chapati and dhal; she wants an English Christmas, not the usual interminable Punjabi festivities - but more than anything, more than mini-skirts and the freedom to watch "Opportunity Knocks", Meena wants to roam the backyards of working-class Tollington with feisty Anita Rutter and her gang.

Lent this to my sister, nice-cup-of-tea, and it's now returned home and is on my bookshelf again!