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Home is in Between
Shanti misses the warm monsoon rains in India. Now in America, she watches fall leaves fly past her feet.
Still, her family’s apartment feels like a village: Mama cooking luchi, funny stories in Bangla, and Baba’s big laugh. But outside, everything is different – trick-or-treating, ballet class, and English books.
Back and forth, Shanti trudges between her two worlds. She remembers her village and learns her new town. She watches Bollywood movies at home and Hollywood movies with her friends. She is Indian. She is also American. How should she define home?
Still, her family’s apartment feels like a village: Mama cooking luchi, funny stories in Bangla, and Baba’s big laugh. But outside, everything is different – trick-or-treating, ballet class, and English books.
Back and forth, Shanti trudges between her two worlds. She remembers her village and learns her new town. She watches Bollywood movies at home and Hollywood movies with her friends. She is Indian. She is also American. How should she define home?
40 pages, Hardcover
First published February 23, 2021
8 people are currently reading
412 people want to read
About the author
Mitali Perkins
25 books577 followersMitali Perkins has written many books for young readers as well as a couple for adults, including You Bring the Distant Near (nominated for the National Book Award) Rickshaw Girl (a NYPL best 100 Book for children in the past 100 years, film adaptation at rickshawgirlmovie.com), Bamboo People (an ALA Top 10 YA novel), and Forward Me Back to You, which won the South Asia Book Award for Younger Readers. Her newest novel, Hope in the Valley, received five starred reviews and was selected as a Best Book for Young Readers by Kirkus and Book Page. She currently writes and resides in the San Francisco Bay Area: mitaliperkins.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 146 reviews
April 27, 2021
Shanti, an immigrant child celebrates the beauty of having two cultures.
November 17, 2020
This book is beautiful in words and pictures. And, it hit me right in my heart. Just like Shanti, the main character in the book, my kids toggle between the code at home and the code at school. Needless to say, I found the story very relatable, and I feel it would make a perfect gift for multi-cultural and immigrant families, providing a simple yet profound answer to the question- where are you from?
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February 28, 2021This beautiful, bright book depicts a modern family immigrating from a village in India to a town in America and how it feels to be a child living in between cultures. This is a great book for immigrant children to see that they're not alone and for American-born children to start to understand code-switching and how much work it can be!
July 4, 2021
Beauty in diversity. So heartwarming
November 29, 2021
This is a lovely book about a family who come from a small village in India and move to an American city. The little girl named Shanti struggles with balancing the culture of her old village and the new culture of her new home - when she is with her parents, they do things related to her home culture, and with her friends, she must do things in their culture. She soon becomes tired of keeping them separate.
Shanti begins to love both places and cultures, and eventually merges the two together, to find a "home" inbetween the two.
Shanti begins to love both places and cultures, and eventually merges the two together, to find a "home" inbetween the two.
January 20, 2022
This was a great book that relates to the #OwnVoices because the author's life story greatly relates to the character's story. The author was born in Bengal and came to the United States when she was a little girl. The book's character, Shanti, experiences the same thing; moving to a new town, learning American mannerisms, and going to a new school were all a part of what the author and the little girl go through. I like that Perkins was able to tell her story through this book. It can help other children and families who are going through the same situation to realize that "home" does not have to be in one place or another, but that it can be somewhere in between.
February 27, 2023
2.5 stars, rounded up for the cultural representation. The ending felt a bit pat — rushed, facile — and the use of fragments rather than full sentences throughout made it difficult to get immersed in the story.
April 10, 2021
A bright new star. Beautifully done.
May 26, 2021
Shanti has immigrated to the US from India and she misses her Baba. As she learns a new language, new food, makes new friends and goes to a new school she thinks about her India home. Gradually she understands that she is between two homes or is IN two homes
October 3, 2021
Heartfelt and beautiful depiction of the unique experience of children navigating the space between two cultures---the one at home, and the one at school and elsewhere. The author compassionately and simply illustrates how this balancing act can be exhausting, but also a source of resilience and pride.
October 21, 2021
Diversity, cultural awareness, comparison
November 24, 2020
Shanti has much to teach all of us, children and adults.
She is straddling two cultures everyday.
Anyone who is/has been anxious about "fitting in" will be able to relate to this personal story.
This picture book is delightful, full of joy and timely. The colors are vibrant and the page designs are inviting. You want to know more about how Shanti will blend her two "lives".
She needs to learn so much and yet has so much to teach/share with her new friends, family and classmates.
Mitali Perkins
She is straddling two cultures everyday.
Anyone who is/has been anxious about "fitting in" will be able to relate to this personal story.
This picture book is delightful, full of joy and timely. The colors are vibrant and the page designs are inviting. You want to know more about how Shanti will blend her two "lives".
She needs to learn so much and yet has so much to teach/share with her new friends, family and classmates.
Mitali Perkins
November 16, 2021
Rating: 5 leaves out of 5
Characters: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Story: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Genre: Children/Picture Book
Type: Book
Worth?: Yes!
What a cute and delightful book! I will never understand the in between but this book gives a good glimpse at what a child goes through when moved from one country to another.
The coloring was beautiful and the story line was amazing.
Characters: 5/5
Cover: 5/5
Story: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Genre: Children/Picture Book
Type: Book
Worth?: Yes!
What a cute and delightful book! I will never understand the in between but this book gives a good glimpse at what a child goes through when moved from one country to another.
The coloring was beautiful and the story line was amazing.
March 1, 2021
Such a wonderful, heart-warming story about a girl who feels like she's caught between two worlds. Beautiful, expressive illustrations and informative back matter. A must-read for everyone who wants to understand what it's like for a child to integrate into a different country and culture.
November 30, 2021
Another touching, lively, culturally rich picture book from Mitali Perkins. This will be a balm and a boon to the immigrant child, making their way in a new world while anchored in the world of their home culture.
April 14, 2022
Beautifully told and illustrated!
A perfect picture book to feel immigration as a child. It took me back to my frequent moves growing up, then reminded me of so many precious children I taught who were fresh to America.
A perfect picture book to feel immigration as a child. It took me back to my frequent moves growing up, then reminded me of so many precious children I taught who were fresh to America.
March 12, 2021
This heart-warming story uses bright and adorable illustrations to introduce children to the experience of immigrants as a young, Indian girl finds her balance between cultures.
Reviewer #9
Reviewer #9
November 18, 2025
Enjoyable book about a little girl who moves from Bengal to the USA and learns to live in between two cultures. The illustrations are adorable.
December 4, 2021
Perfectly encapsulates what it feels like to be in between.
January 28, 2022
This is the first picture book I’ve read that directly mentions code switching. I’m interested to see what discussions arise from it.
March 18, 2022
AR 2.0
This is a great book for, especially an Indian, immigrant to the US. It would teach kids in their class about differences and how things may be different, but thats ok.
This is a great book for, especially an Indian, immigrant to the US. It would teach kids in their class about differences and how things may be different, but thats ok.
March 21, 2022
Awesome!!!
March 24, 2022
I think this would be great in storytime, especially talking about moving or making new friends.
March 25, 2022
This was so wonderful… Shanti is ME!
April 30, 2022
An energetic, joyous illustration of how exhausting it is to have to exist in two cultures simultaneously.
July 12, 2022
Cute art and a great story about living two cultures.
October 21, 2025
Shanti says goodbye to her village in India and hello to a new town in America. She has to navigate life in two different cultural worlds. While her home is a replica of her village in India, everything outside is different. The foods, mannerisms, and languages are all new to her, and she has to learn them. At first, it becomes tiring for her to switch between these two worlds, and she struggles. However, as time goes on, things get easier, and she finds a balance between her two cultural identities.
The theme of this book is the immigrant experience, illustrating the challenges of moving from one country to another and navigating both the new culture and one's own. I chose this book because I can relate to Shanti, especially when she expresses how exhausting it is to exist between two worlds.
This book is appropriate for students in Pre-K through Kindergarten. I would read it to the class and ask them questions about what they think Shanti is feeling. Reading books like this helps students connect with and respect different backgrounds. Afterward, I would show them a globe, marking the locations of India and the United States. I would invite them to find where their families came from and place a pin on that spot on the globe. This way, we can all see the different places we come from.
The theme of this book is the immigrant experience, illustrating the challenges of moving from one country to another and navigating both the new culture and one's own. I chose this book because I can relate to Shanti, especially when she expresses how exhausting it is to exist between two worlds.
This book is appropriate for students in Pre-K through Kindergarten. I would read it to the class and ask them questions about what they think Shanti is feeling. Reading books like this helps students connect with and respect different backgrounds. Afterward, I would show them a globe, marking the locations of India and the United States. I would invite them to find where their families came from and place a pin on that spot on the globe. This way, we can all see the different places we come from.
June 2, 2021
This is a great one. Does a great job visually and through the narrative of showing the challenge Shanti has straddling two different cultures and that she finally just decides to embrace the inbetween place and bring others along into that space to enjoy it for what it is. I could see this really resonating with a lot of newcomers and children of immigrants, and it's great to see a resolution that doesn't compromise anything for Shanti. Also liked seeing the Bengali language and detail throughout, but done well with an index at the end (although I think there were some words in the index that didn't actually appear in the book, which is better than the opposite I guess!)
My 4 year old really enjoyed this one and asked lots of questions like why the parents looked surprised at halloween and why Shanti was doing different dance moves than the other kids in ballet class, which to me shows that the book does a great job of initiating conversations. Definitely recommend and would like to see more from Mitali Perkins.
My 4 year old really enjoyed this one and asked lots of questions like why the parents looked surprised at halloween and why Shanti was doing different dance moves than the other kids in ballet class, which to me shows that the book does a great job of initiating conversations. Definitely recommend and would like to see more from Mitali Perkins.
April 2, 2021
“Back and forth she ran. Remembering the village. Remembering the town. Again and again. In between.”
Shanti comes from Bengal with her parents to the United States. When she is at home, she is in “her village,” experiencing the culture of Bengal. But when she is at school, she is trying to learn “the code” of her new culture. It can be very tiring to always be going back and forth between cultures. So she takes a rest in the middle. It is then that she discovers that she is “good at making anywhere feel like home. Especially here. In the space between cultures.”
The story is based on the author’s experience growing up. A nice read aloud to help children understand how it feels to be new to a country.
Shanti comes from Bengal with her parents to the United States. When she is at home, she is in “her village,” experiencing the culture of Bengal. But when she is at school, she is trying to learn “the code” of her new culture. It can be very tiring to always be going back and forth between cultures. So she takes a rest in the middle. It is then that she discovers that she is “good at making anywhere feel like home. Especially here. In the space between cultures.”
The story is based on the author’s experience growing up. A nice read aloud to help children understand how it feels to be new to a country.
August 15, 2021
I have many students who are from other countries in our school and I am excited to share this story with them as it feels "just right". Shanti leaves Bengali and arrives in the United States on the first few pages. Her observance of the customs, traditions, language, and how she and her parents adapted to them all is heartfelt and engaging. I am certain this book will begin many conversations of how students who have lived in two different countries adapt, embrace, and become accostumed to each home while accepting that everyone adapts at their own pace, especially across generations. The illustrations by Lavanya Naidu are bright and fun with great details to be found that connect to the text and offer chances for comparison of cultures. I am grateful to Mitali Perkins for the author's note and the glossary at the end of the book.
Absolutely a first purchase for my diverse school and I hope it will be a first purchase for any library that services elementary students!
Absolutely a first purchase for my diverse school and I hope it will be a first purchase for any library that services elementary students!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 146 reviews