A Group of One

Emily Walters Gregor is a graduate student in 20th-century American
literature and an ESL writing tutor at the University of Minnesota.

Tara, 15, loves the diversity of her hometown, Ottawa, but sometimes
wonders about her place within it. The daughter of Indian parents, Tara
is annoyed by a teacher and classmates who expect her to be more
“ethnic” than she feels. When her grandmother from India comes to
visit for the first time, Tara learns more about what it means to be
both Indian and a “regular Canadian.”

Tara’s grandmother’s powerful and engaging memories of India’s
struggle for independence from Britain make the young teen’s everyday
concerns with boys, friends, family, and school even more complicated.
While Tara knows that she is more Canadian than she is Indian, she also
knows that her family history is an important part of who she is. Shaped
by a variety of influences and experiences, she understands that she has
an identity distinct from those of her parents, grandparents, and
friends—she is a “group of one.”

One of the important things Tara learns from her grandmother is that
much of her family worked with Mahatma Gandhi in India’s movement
toward self-government. It is this history that causes Tara to examine
issues of colonialism, racism, multiculturalism, and gender in Canada.
The story of Tara’s struggle with identity alongside that of India’s
makes this book compelling reading. Highly recommended.