Americans Summering in their Second Home

One aspect of Stranger in a Strange Land that has not been mentioned is the American child whose family resides in homes in both America and the country where the parents live. I am reminded of my cousins who lived in America during the school year to attend American schools and then spent their summers in Taiwan, where they were born. These dual childhood experiences are most frequently found in immigrant families.

In Naming Maya by Uma Krishnaswami, Maya does not want to leave New Jersey to spend the summer in her parents' birthplace, Chennai, India, as she has every summer. But this summer is different. This summer her Dad will not be there. Maya's parents are separating, and she and her mother return to India to sell a family house in Chennai while reacquainting themselves with their extended family and dealing with their family's elderly long-time cook Mami's erratic behavior. The rich cultural details of everyday Chennai summer life support rather than clash with the voice of the very modern American Maya.

I've visited Chennai twice, once when it was Madras and again last year after it became Chennai, and reading this book made me feel like I was back in India with the wonderful descriptions of food and clothes and customs. What interests me most is how Maya's trip affects the conflict of the novel. While country borders are being crossed, the central issue for such a story is not the child protagonist's conflict with "the otherness" of the non-American country because the child has already absorbed the other culture during previous visits. With Naming Maya, the core issue is coming to terms with the loss of her dad.

I'm curious about other novels and even picture books depicting two homes in two countries. Any other suggestions?