Minisha's problems with race
Minisha has a narrative about race and identity that is way more than meets the eye. Her sister has almost no issue adjusting to the culture of the mostly Black school they end up moving to, but Minisha struggles to be successful in her social surroundings. Over the course of the novel, we see that she isn't sure how to be herself anymore, because she often mimics the behaviors and slang of her friends, but now she feels like she isn't allowed to do that. Her complicated relationship with Black culture is one of hoping to fit in, without offending people in the process.
The ironic father
The father's role in the novel is opposite of what a father typically provides for their kids. Instead of helping his kids, he helps himself and holds them back. For Minisha, the father's chronic dating takes its toll in unseen ways, because the girlfriends often treat the girls differently in private than they do in front of the father (dramatic irony). In the end of the novel, he does a good thing by putting Minisha in swim, but he is unable to show her the way; she fails on purpose to protect him. Instead of helping her get ahead, she helps him by staying behind.
Minisha's abstract problems
Minisha struggles to overcome the dramatic irony that prohibits her from fully understanding her needs. Broadly speaking, she lacks the emotional clarity that experience would give, but by struggling and fighting through her crises, she eventually finds a peace that can sustain her. The irony of her problems is that they are existential and confusing to her and to others, so she is up against the world so to speak.
Physical activity
One of the major solutions to Minisha's life problems is extraordinarily simple: she needs a hobby. In terms of existential crisis, she often feels that she needs a major breakthrough or to get rich or something—she goes through these hypotheticals before finally, she finds swim. In swim, her body gets an opportunity to burn energy, and she gets the mental comfort that comes from doing something and seeing one's progress and growth. The solution seemed unattainable, but was actually rather simple. Not necessarily easy—but simple and tangible.
Proving one's worth
Minisha decides to prove herself to herself by swimming across a lake to an island, which is quite dangerous. She decides to undertake the task to see her abilities, and to push herself, but when her father gets in to join her, she fakes a failure and stops, so he doesn't follow her and drown. The irony here is layered, but Minisha deciding to put her father before herself is most ironic of all, because she finds her identity and value doing what he struggles to do—thinking of others as more important than herself.
