Look at that gorgeous cover. It invited me in with all its charm, its wonder, its mystery. And the book was just as heart-warming.Jackson likes facts. He's the kid who runs backstage and then reveals to everyone just how the magician pulled a rabbit out of his hat. He knows facts about bats and cats and dinosaurs and all kinds of other creatures because facts are real. Facts are important.If only his parents would tell him facts too, instead of trying to be all cheery and optimistic, and pretending that everything is going well.The other problem with Jackson's factual, real, rational universe is a giant cat, Crenshaw. Crenshaw was his imaginary friend when he was younger. Surely, he should have outgrown something as un-factual as an imaginary friend! Crenshaw first made an appearance when Jackson's family had to move out of their house and into a minivan for four weeks, which … [Read more...]
The Good Thieves
I've said it before and I'll say it again - you cannot go wrong with Katherine Rundell. The Girl Savage, Rooftoppers, The Wolf Wilder, The Explorer, and now, The Good Thieves. I've loved all of them. I love the poetry in the storytelling, the feisty characters and the power of relationships. Katherine Rundell's work just sucks me in each time and holds me in the story until I've read the last sentence.A rich conman Sorrotore has swindled Vita's grandfather out of his home, an old castle that is falling apart. Sorrotore insists that he bought the castle cheap - he paid 200 dollars for it, and her grandfather's account reflects the payment. Yet, he never sold it. He would never sell something so precious to him, and however pressed he was, he would never sell it for a paltry two hundred dollars.However, lawyers are expensive and the family cannot afford to fight a long legal battle, … [Read more...]
All of Me
It's been a while since I wrote a book review, simply because I haven't been reading much for the last two months. I wrote about that for The Curious Reader - about reading old favourites, but not really taking the plunge and reading something altogether new. Finally, a few days ago, I settled into a newer kind of reading. I began (finally!) to look for books to buy and read on my Kindle to keep me going until libraries reopen and I feel comfortable enough to go visit them.And the first book I bought was All of Me by Venita Coelho.There are some books that when I read, I feel, "I write much better than that, come on! This story is ... just ... mediocre."And then, there are some books that make me wonder why I am a writer at all when there are people who write so well, sucking you into the story and keeping you there, chapter after chapter.Considering I never review books I … [Read more...]
Dragonflies, Jigsaws and Seashells – The Story Behind the Story
Stories of rejection can be empowering if they have happy endings. I realised that when I shared the story behind the story of Sisters at New Dawn. I think, since writing is such a solitary affair anyway, knowing that you aren't amassing those rejections alone makes you feel warm, and a little less alone. So, here's the story of Dragonflies and how it came into being. It's the story of the rejections I accumulated before being shortlisted for the Scholastic Asian Book Award. The book is out now, available in India, and now is as good a time as any to write about it. Not naming any names here because that's not what this post is about.Publisher OneI sent my manuscript to the first publisher on my list in 2013, shortly after I had my first collection of short stories, The Story-Catcher, published. (Yes, you read that correctly. 2013. Seven years ago.) I did … [Read more...]
The Peril Trilogy
In the time of lockdown, Kindle Unlimited books are such a boon! I've been devouring books by Julia Golding for a while now, and when I discovered the Peril trilogy by Joss Stirling (same writer, different name), I was thrilled. Three books to read! Except that they're so fast paced that I didn't spend very long over them.Peril (Book 1)Meri Marlowe is the last of her kind, except that she doesn't know that. She knows that she can see a colour called Peril that no one else seems to be able to see. Her parents died protecting her, and left her in the care of Theo, who can't see peril, but knows that Meri's secret must be kept safe because ... He has no idea. Someone wants to kill her, simply because she can see peril.Kel Douglas is the enemy, or at least, he ought to be. When Kel and Meri meet, though, everything seems to change. Meri is a Tean and Kel is Perilous. Historical … [Read more...]
Ragged Wolf
I'm home. Coronavirus. Twisted ankle.My instinct is to sit with my laptop and work all day, but I know I will be exhausted if I do that. So, what can I do? I'm afraid of running out of books (yes, really) and I ration them, until I remember that I have a Kindle Unlimited subscription.Ever since Duckbill was acquired, though, I haven't used Kindle Unlimited much because Duckbill books aren't there any longer. Halfheartedly, I checked if my favourite writers had anything new there, and ... yes!So much for rationing my reading, though, I read Ragged Wolf practically all day until I finished it.Ragged Wolf is the third in the Dragonfly trilogy, and I enjoyed it just as much as I enjoyed the rest of the series (which, perhaps, it's time to reread ...?) The protagonists in the three books are not the same, and I love that. The characters we get to know in one book are around, but … [Read more...]
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
What a truly delightful story!In the shadow of Fruitless Mountain live Minli and her family. Everything in her village seems grey and dull, except Minli, who sparkles with life. That sparkle is, perhaps, the result of Ba's stories. Night after night, he tells her stories about dragons, the Never-Ending Mountain and the Old Man of the Moon. Ma harrumphs and disapproves, for what use are stories when their fortune will not change? Life is hard and they must strive to make ends meet.With all the stories she has heard, Minli knows that only one person can help change the family fortune - and that is the Old Man of the Moon. And so, she sets out on a journey to find him. All along the way, she meets different kinds of creatures - a goldfish that can talk, a dragon without wings, a green tiger and more.Minli's journey is particularly heartwarming because her character is … [Read more...]
Annexed
I was not planning to write a review of Annexed because of all the questions it raised in me about historical fiction. The Diary of a Young Girl, with its optimism and intimacy, made the Annexe come alive to all of us. I read it years ago and was left feeling hollow because vivacious Anne Frank, who died perhaps equally of loneliness and of typhus, could not have, should not have died.But what of the others in the Annexe whom we see only through Anne's eyes? What of her father who survived and the others who didn't? What of Peter, the only young boy in the Annexe, who lived to be eighteen in a concentration camp?Annexed is the story from Peter's point of view. Right at the beginning, I was uncomfortable. Peter and Anne were real people with real stories. Was it okay to create a fictional character Liese, with whom Peter is in love at the beginning of the story? And as things … [Read more...]
Broken Soup
Unlike most other books that I pick up, the cover of Broken Soup did not attract me. But I've read and loved two other books by Jenny Valentine (The Ant Colony and Fire Colour One), so I borrowed this one - and, once more, I loved how the story was told.Rowan's family falls apart when her brother Jack dies. Jack was the kind of person who made a room more interesting when he stepped in and left people feeling a little deflated when he stepped away. He was funny, lively and charismatic - so much so that Rowan lived in his glow. She was his little sister.But after he dies, something in the family seems to die too. Rowan's father leaves, and her mother sinks into a well of sadness. Rowan, all of 15, does not want to live with her father, so she takes responsibility for her little sister Stroma, and pretends both to her father and to the world at large that everything with their … [Read more...]
Sisters at New Dawn – The Story Behind the Story
Everybody knows that writing a book takes time. Sometimes (is it especially so with me?), it takes quite a long time.I wrote Sisters at New Dawn six years ago. 2014. Of course, this meant that in the last edit, I had to make lots of changes in it to keep up with the times. For instance, I had to change the idea of young people on Facebook to young people on Instagram; you'll discover the context if you read the book. That changed in these six years.I sent my manuscript out to the first publisher on my list on the 14th of October 2014. I maintain a spreadsheet to keep track of my submissions, so I know. And publishing comes with follow-ups and more follow-ups. Four months and three follow-ups later, I was told that the story was 'interesting', but it didn't work for them.In three years, I read and rewrote Sisters for the I-don't-know-how-many-th time. Then, I … [Read more...]