49 pages • 1 hour read
Neela Vaswani, Silas HouseSame Sun Here
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
February 2009Chapter Summaries & Analyses
13 February 2009 Summary
River’s friend Mark had to have his leg amputated above the knee, so River has been spending most of his free time at the hospital with him. River and Mark also watch Obama’s inauguration on TV at the hospital. River notices that most people around him have tears in their eyes as Obama is sworn in, including Dr. Patel. However, later that night, he heard a man in the waiting room call Obama the n-word. He struggles to know how to respond. On one hand, he wants to stand up for what he believes in, but on the other, he’s scared to speak up. River feels like Obama’s inauguration as the first black president means that anything is possible, and he values its historical significance.
River’s parents have been getting along well, and his relationship with his father feels like it used to when he was younger. His mother hasn’t had any headaches since the rock fall incident, and she has been helping Mawmaw prepare for the rally. Mawmaw teaches the people who will come to the march how to get arrested without getting hurt, just in case they are taken to jail. The night before the march, River calls his teammates, and they all decide to join the march for Town Mountain in honor of Mark.
February 18, 2009 Summary
Meena turns 13, and her mum brings her a bakery cake, but the bakery misspells her name, “Nina” (213) because they’ve never heard the name “Meena” before. Her family sings “Happy Birthday” quietly so the landlord won’t hear them. Her parents’ citizenship exam date is set for May 14.
22 February 2009 Summary
River sends a birthday card to Meena and encloses a buckeye, a lucky tree nut, as a present for her.
February 25, 2009 Summary
Meena gets into a big fight with her mum because her mum won’t allow her to see a movie with her friends from Drama Club. In the midst of the argument, Meena accuses her mother of abandoning her in India for six years while only taking Kiku to the United States. Later, her mum explains that they expected they would make money quickly and be able to send for Meena within a few months of arriving in New York, but things didn’t work out as they expected. Meena feels sorry for making her mother cry and struggles between seeing herself as an Indian daughter or an American daughter.
February 28, 2009 Summary
River feels sorry to hear about Meena’s fight with her mom and sees both sides of the argument. While he thinks Meena was tough on her mom, it’s also good that she stood up for herself. The march on the capital is tomorrow, and River will write to Meena about how it goes.
February 2009 Analysis
The authors describe Obama’s inauguration to highlight the context of River and Meena’s friendship and to discuss the political climate in a way that’s relevant to young readers. When a man at the hospital makes mean comments about Obama during the inauguration on TV, River feels he should stand up to him, but he does not know what to say. House and Vaswani point out the immaturity of name-calling and show that young people can and should have political views and be willing to voice them in a respectful way. By addressing big themes such as politics, House and Vaswani show young readers the importance of establishing one’s beliefs and convictions at a young age, and that anyone, no matter their age, can stand up for their beliefs.
House and Vaswani use Meena’s fight with her mom to show the struggles that many immigrant parents and children face. Many immigrant parents, just like Meena’s parents, come to America to give their children opportunities for a better life. However, the children often adapt to the new culture more fully than the parents. Meena wants to spend time with boys, marry the person she chooses when she is older, and speak up for what she wants. She speaks in English while her mother responds in Hindi. American culture is becoming a part of Meena’s identity, but her mum still sees her as her “Indian daughter” (220). The argument between Meena and her mum showcases the way immigrant parents and children adapt to the new culture on different levels, and the way barriers can easily be formed between Americanized children and traditionalist parents.
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