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© Copyright 2013 - 2025
Varsha Seshan

Echo

February 5, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Do you ever read the author’s note and acknowledgements? I love reading them! For example, at the end of Echo, author Pam Muñoz Ryan writes: It was [in the German […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: books for tweens, Echo, fantasy, historical fiction, Middle Grade, Pam Muñoz Ryan, reading, review

Melissa

January 30, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I’ve been meaning to read Melissa for a while, and more so since I read Rick some time ago. It’s an important book for young readers, one that I found […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Alex Gino, books for tweens, Melissa, Middle Grade, reading, review

The Scent of Roses

January 24, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

From the author of Boy, Bear, a poignant story that has stayed with me, comes The Scent of Roses, a book about fear, grief and loss. This latest hOle book […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Adithi Rao, books for ages nine and ten, books for ages seven and eight, Chapter Book, hOle book, Krishna Bala Shenoi, reading, review, The Scent of Roses

The Wish Fish

January 22, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Would you believe in a fish that could grant wishes? Namita wants to, but … The Wish Fish by Lesley D. Biswas and Aratrika Choudhury is a charming story set […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Aratrika Choudhury, books for ages five and six, Hook Book, Lesley D Biswas, Picture Book, reading, review, The Wish Fish

Gawa’s Bag of Good Regards

January 21, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Lots of adults I know hated the question What do you want to be when you grow up? I know I loved it as a child. I had so many […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Anushka Ravishankar, books for ages five and six, Canato Jimo, Gawa's Bag of Good Regards, Hook Book, Picture Book, reading, review

Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen!

January 18, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

What a lovely, lovely book! I don’t know anything about baseball. I’ve seen what the bat looks like, and I’ve heard random terms like ‘home run’ and ‘strike’, but that’s […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: books for tweens, Get a Grip Vivy Cohen, Middle Grade, reading, review, Sarah Kapit

Leeva at Last

January 15, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

If you like Roald Dahl’s Matilda, you’re sure to enjoy Leeva at Last by Sara Pennypacker! Leeva’s parents, in a perfectly Roald Dahl-esque way are impossibly cruel. They have all […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, early middle grade, Leeva at Last, reading, review, Sara Pennypacker

Top 5 Young Adult Books – 2024

January 11, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I finally read a few more young adult books last year, so I don’t have to combine my late middle-grade and young adult books! I loved all these books, three […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: books for tweens, reading, review, Spin, The Lucky List, The Poet X, The School for Bad Girls, Where the Heart Should Be, Young Adult

Top 10 Middle Grade Books – 2024

January 10, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I read many, many middle grade books last year, but somehow just one Indian book stands out this time! Here are my top ten, in no particular order. I highly […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: books for tweens, How to Win an Election, In the Beautiful Country, Middle Grade, Mirror to Mirror, Odder, Pax Journey Home, reading, Red White and Whole, Restart, review, Starfish, The Stories Grandma Forgot, Twitch

Top 10 Early Middle Grade Books – 2024

January 9, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Many of the titles on this list of my favourite early middle grade books from 2024 are book club reads. Some, the children enjoyed thoroughly; others, I enjoyed more than […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Bat and the End of Everything, Birds on the Brain, books for ages nine and ten, early middle grade, Kushti Kid, No Talking, Petu Pumpkin: Freedom Fighter, reading, review, The Misadventures of a Diamond Thief, The Mystery of the Silk Umbrella, The One and Only Ruby, The Wishkeeper's Apprentice, The Worst Witch to the Rescue

Top 7 Picture Books and Chapter Books – 2024

January 8, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

It’s time for my yearly roundups! I have no idea how many books I read last year (I never count), but I know I read a significant number. I read […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: books for ages seven and eight, Chapter Books, Dear Sister, I Won't Wash My Hair, Ottoline at Sea, Peanut Has a Plan, picture books, Puppy Trouble, reading, review, What Happened to Grandpa, Where Does It Hurt

Boo-Boo the Eco-Warrior

January 7, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I don’t like horror stories, but what about stories featuring a friendly, helpful ghost? Boo-Boo the Eco-Warrior is one of those! Written almost like a series of short stories, this book by […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: Boo-Boo the Eco-Warrior, book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, Tanushree Podder

Misfit Madhu

January 6, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

We’re rereading Misfit Madhu at my book club! It was a favourite when I read it two years ago, although it’s longer and slightly more complex than the books we […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, Divya Anand, Misfit Madhu, online reading programme

Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom

January 5, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom opens with the oracle at Delphi predicting the fall of the Titans. The future is misty and the oracle’s glasses are foggy, so she […]

Filed Under: Books, Children, Workshops Tagged With: book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, Chapter Book, Joan Holub, online reading programme, online workshops for children, reading, review, Zeus and the Thunderbolt of Doom

Trouble-Maker

January 4, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Have you read any books by Andrew Clements? I’ve read several, and each one of them has been such a good choice as a book club read! Perhaps it’s because […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Andrew Clements, book club, bookish activities, books for ages nine and ten, online reading programme, online workshops for children, Trouble-Maker

Petu Pumpkin: Tooth Troubles

January 1, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Another edition of my book club, another hOle book! We’ve read nineteen so far, and I’m running out of ones I think my book clubbers will enjoy! I read Petu […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Arundhati Venkatesh, book club, bookish activities, books for ages seven and eight, online reading programme, online workshops for children, Petu Pumpkin: Tooth Troubles

The Lucky List

December 16, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Are you the kind of person who finishes a book once you’ve begun? Or are you perfectly happy abandoning a book that doesn’t work for you? I’m usually the second, […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Rachael Lippincott, reading, review, The Lucky List, Young Adult

The Stories Grandma Forgot (and How I Found Them)

December 11, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

How are such few people reading verse novels? They’re so lovely, so full of emotion and magic! My latest read was The Stories Grandma Forgot (and How I Found Them), […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: Middle Grade, Nadine Aisha Jassat, novel in verse, reading, review, The Stories Grandma Forgot

The School for Bad Girls

November 29, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I was reading The School for Bad Girls and I mentioned how much I was enjoying it to an acquaintance. Immediately, she said, “I thought Anandibai Joshi was the first […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: historical fiction, Madhurima Vidyarthi, reading, review, The School for Bad Girls, Young Adult

Kushti Kid

November 28, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I’ve read and enjoyed so many of Vibha Batra’s books that when I saw Kushti Kid, I knew I had to read it. And it’s lovely! Several of Vibha’s books […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, books for ages seven and eight, Kushti Kid, reading, review, Vibha Batra

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