Aug 2, 2019

There's Something About Sweetie

I am so excited to welcome you to The Ish Girl Summer Book Club 2019 Discussion! We're talking all about There's Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon.

What I have for you is pretty special – my daughter and one of her best friends are joining me to talk about the book. First, I want to give the girls a brief introduction.

My Special Guests

Nila and Phoebe will both be sophomores, and they are both in the amazing band program at their high school.

The girls have known each other since kindergarten – in fact, I can remember substituting for Nila’s kinder teacher several times. It’s been so fun to watch them grow into the beautiful young ladies they are right now.

I invited Nila onto the podcast for a couple of very specific reasons

1. I know that she is an avid reader, and we share a love of ya fantasy books – especially Cassandra Clare’s
2. Both of Nila’s parents are from India – just like both main characters in the book, Ashish and Sweetie.

I knew she’d be able to give us a unique perspective, and quite honestly, I thought she might have insight into some of the questions the book brought up for me. Which she did.

The Convo

Phoebe had not read There's Something About Sweetie on the day we recorded, but that’s okay – Nila and I convinced her to join our conversation. We had a great time talking about:

• positive body image
• being yourself with your friends
• trying to fit in during middle school and
• why it’s so important for parents and teachers to be real and respectful with teens

And you don’t want to miss how Phoebe and I tap dance around overprotectiveness and being set up on dates by your parents.

I can’t thank Nila and Phoebe enough for sharing their thoughts, opinions, and ideas. As I said before, I SO enjoy seeing them grow into themselves.

Your Turn

I hope our conversation inspires you to have conversations with your teens about the books you’re reading! It really can open doors to connect in ways you might not otherwise.

If you want to read and discuss There’s Something About Sweetie, here are some of the issues it covers:

• Athletic achievement
• body choice
• body image
• body shaming
• friendship
• self-confidence
• stereotyping
• dating relationships
• parent/teen relationships.

You can find a link to download the discussion questions below.

Referenced in this Episode:

FREEBIE: Discussion Questions for There’s Something About Sweetie

There’s Something About Sweetie

When Dimple Met Rishi