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Nina Soni, Perfect Hostess

Author Kashmira Sheth
Illustrated by Jenn Kocsmiersky
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Hardcover
$15.99 US
Holiday House | Peachtree
5.89"W x 7.82"H x 0.77"D  
On sale Apr 25, 2023 | 192 Pages | 9781682635018
Grades 2-5
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When family visit from India, Nina Soni has the opportunity to be the perfect hostess—but her annoying cousin Montu and her own assumptions and intentions may complicate matters.

Nina’s grandmother is coming to visit, all the way from India. It’s hard, only getting to see her grandparents on carefully timed video calls, scheduled to manage that ten-and-a-half hour time difference. But now Dadi is going to stay for several weeks!
 
Nina can’t wait to see Dadi—but then it turns out that Montu, her annoying cousin, will also be coming. It’s challenging enough to manage her little sister, but Nina has gotten used to that, and even come to appreciate many of Kavita’s eccentricities. Still, it will be fun to introduce her extended family to life and friends in Madison, Wisconsin, and Nina is determined to become the perfect hostess. Surely, she can manage to plan a lovely visit, with the help of the lists she makes in her journal.
Kashmira Sheth was born in India with Guajarati as her mother tongue and began learning English in fifth grade. She had lived in Bhavnagar and Mumbai before moving to United States when she was seventeen to attend Iowa State University, where she received a BS in microbiology. Before becoming an author Kashmira had many different jobs, including running a dance school and choreographing and performing Indian dances, working in a bakery, and working as a food microbiologist. She is the author of several picture books, chapter books, and middle grade and young adult novels. Taking inspiration from her own life and experiences, much of Kashmira’s work centers on Indian culture and features Indian and Indian American characters.
 

Jenn Kocsmierksy is a watercolor artist and picture book illustrator. She was adopted from Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in rural New Hampshire. Now, as a mom and artist, Jenn hopes to promote relatable childhood experiences featuring diverse characters. She was the recipient of the 2018 We Need Diverse Books Mentorship for Illustration and the 2016–2017 Walter Dean Meyers Grant. She lives in New York with her two children and a ginormous goldfish named Joey.
 
Kashmira Sheth View titles by Kashmira Sheth
Jenn Kocsmiersky View titles by Jenn Kocsmiersky
"The scarcity of early chapter books that show both Indian and American cultural traditions, the integration of two cultures, and definitions of both countries’ words, make this book a ­recommended purchase for middle grade reading collections."—School Library Journal

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When family visit from India, Nina Soni has the opportunity to be the perfect hostess—but her annoying cousin Montu and her own assumptions and intentions may complicate matters.

Nina’s grandmother is coming to visit, all the way from India. It’s hard, only getting to see her grandparents on carefully timed video calls, scheduled to manage that ten-and-a-half hour time difference. But now Dadi is going to stay for several weeks!
 
Nina can’t wait to see Dadi—but then it turns out that Montu, her annoying cousin, will also be coming. It’s challenging enough to manage her little sister, but Nina has gotten used to that, and even come to appreciate many of Kavita’s eccentricities. Still, it will be fun to introduce her extended family to life and friends in Madison, Wisconsin, and Nina is determined to become the perfect hostess. Surely, she can manage to plan a lovely visit, with the help of the lists she makes in her journal.

Author

Kashmira Sheth was born in India with Guajarati as her mother tongue and began learning English in fifth grade. She had lived in Bhavnagar and Mumbai before moving to United States when she was seventeen to attend Iowa State University, where she received a BS in microbiology. Before becoming an author Kashmira had many different jobs, including running a dance school and choreographing and performing Indian dances, working in a bakery, and working as a food microbiologist. She is the author of several picture books, chapter books, and middle grade and young adult novels. Taking inspiration from her own life and experiences, much of Kashmira’s work centers on Indian culture and features Indian and Indian American characters.
 

Jenn Kocsmierksy is a watercolor artist and picture book illustrator. She was adopted from Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in rural New Hampshire. Now, as a mom and artist, Jenn hopes to promote relatable childhood experiences featuring diverse characters. She was the recipient of the 2018 We Need Diverse Books Mentorship for Illustration and the 2016–2017 Walter Dean Meyers Grant. She lives in New York with her two children and a ginormous goldfish named Joey.
 
Kashmira Sheth View titles by Kashmira Sheth
Jenn Kocsmiersky View titles by Jenn Kocsmiersky

Praise

"The scarcity of early chapter books that show both Indian and American cultural traditions, the integration of two cultures, and definitions of both countries’ words, make this book a ­recommended purchase for middle grade reading collections."—School Library Journal

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