Four years ago, I had not heard of the Asian Festival of Children's Content. I did not know that Singapore's National Library had 16 floors of books. And then, I was shortlisted for the Scholastic Asian Book Award 2016, which was momentous enough for me to buy a festival pass and attend my first AFCC. I didn't win the award, but that was the beginning of a new journey - one that has led to my first Scholastic publication, Dragonflies, Jigsaws, and Seashells (originally Dragonflies, Jigsaws and a Rainbow). Then, in 2017, I answered a call for papers and was invited to speak at the AFCC. I spoke at a panel on writing about us, as Asians, something that I have started coming across much more frequently. At the AFCC 2017, I experienced the energy of the festival once more, as I went from session to session, making the most of an event that brought writers, illustrators, editors and … [Read more...]
Today I Am … A Writer!
The worst thing about being a writer is not writer's block. Not by a long stretch. The worst thing is all the waiting. Waiting for people to respond. Waiting for a book to be ready. Waiting for a book to hit the market. Every time I get an email - even a rejection - there is a little Varsha inside me that celebrates, simply because the waiting period is over. That's why this week has been particularly incredible. So incredible that I don't know what to write about first. So, not in any order of importance, here goes. I was shortlisted for the Scholastic Asian Book Award once more. In 2016, a collection of my short stories was shortlisted, and it will be published by Scholastic Asia later this year. This time, a novel titled Red Eyes is on the list! Mango Books published my book, The Prophecy of Rasphora, and you can now buy it easily at the Mango Books e-store or … [Read more...]
Memory Challenge!
I sometimes happen upon random blogs and I loved this one, so I decided to do it myself! The idea is to try to answer these questions without sneakily checking online or peeking over your shoulder at the bookshelf behind you. I'm taking the challenge I got from The Book Blogger memory challenge and then adding a few questions of my own. If you try the challenge too, let me know! Name a book written by an author called Michael Private Peaceful - Michael Morpurgo Name a book with a dragon on the cover The Dragon Whisperer - Lucinda Hare Name a book about a character called George George's Marvellous Medicine - Roald Dahl Name a book written by an author with the surname Smith The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency (okay, that's a series) - Alexander McCall Smith (Actually, is his surname hyphenated? Does this count?) Name a book set in Australia Golden Urchin - … [Read more...]
Kittu’s Very Mad Day
Packed with more characters than I could count, reading Kittu's Terrible Horrible No Good Very Mad Day is a crazy experience. Kittu's family is the most chaotic one in the world - and the description of the entire family ordering a meal made me chuckle because it is absolutely en pointe. I remember being embarrassed, nearly mortified, when I was with a huge group of friends and we simply could not make up our minds about what to order! But that's the lightest part of this review. What I liked most about the book requires a little background. Over the last couple of years, I have actively been searching for literature that seeks to be inclusive and diverse. In the beginning, I was impressed by the books I was reading. As I went on, though, I felt that children with disabilities were being included not in the spirit of inclusivity, but as what I found myself calling the … [Read more...]
A Library of Lemons
The cover of A Library of Lemons caught me with one line - 'The bittersweet story of a family lost in books'. A family lost in books. Like mine? A Library of Lemons was nothing like anything I imagined. Young Calypso lives with just her father; her mother died of ovarian cancer when Calypso was just five. Half-remembered moments fill Calypso up - moments of warmth, hugs and laughter. Moments when her father smiled more and did not work all the time. Above all, Calypso's father values inner strength. Inner strength is what makes it possible for you to live on your own, independent. If you have inner strength, you don't cry. You don't need a shoulder to cry on. And if the people you love die, you still carry on. You survive. These are truths that Calypso knows, even though her inner strength somehow keeps deserting her. Perhaps she is not strong enough. When Mae befriends … [Read more...]
The Bone Sparrow
'I wish this book had never needed to be written. I wish that the circumstances that led me to write this story had never occurred.' I close my eyes at the end of The Bone Sparrow, and I echo Zana Fraillon's words. I wish she had never needed to write the book. What do we know about the Rohingyas? What do we do when we read news about their persecution? We feel bad and we turn to something else. Maybe we share the news we read. Or maybe, if we come across something on Facebook, we put a 'sad' or 'angry' before going on to like someone else's post. The Bone Sparrow is written from the point of view of a young Rohingya boy, Subhi, born in an Australian refugee camp. Subhi knows his ba is coming back. In fact, sometimes, he even find little treasures his father sends to him across the Night Sea. One moment, you're chuckling at his little quirks - for instance, he has … [Read more...]
When She Went Away
I was a little sceptical about reading a book called When She Went Away. A book with a name like that could well be a melodramatic romance novel, which really is not my type. I typically don't even finish reading stories that are too melodramatic for me; enjoying them is a long way away. And I know because I've tried. The moment I read the first paragraph of When She Went Away, though, I knew it was not about a romantic 'she', but about Maria's mother who decided she'd had enough of living her life with her family and went away. That was when I was moved by the title. When Ammi went away, everything tumbled into chaos and had to be picked up bit by painstaking bit. The story filled me up with its twists and turns, its possibilities and surprises. Maria is not an entirely loveable character, but she rings true. When her mother goes away, she is torn between the desire to set things … [Read more...]
The Not-a-Pig
I'm still chuckling over Mango and Bambang #1 - The Not-a-Pig. It was just such a crazy, sweet book! Another story about an unlikely friendship, The Not-a-Pig is about a girl called Mango and a tapir! And I don't know about you, but I've never read a book about a tapir before. There is a huge traffic jam because there's a hump on (or is it in?) the zebra crossing. What could the hump be? It is black and white, just like the rest of the crossing. What could it possibly be? Enterprising young Mango is the only one who dares to find out, and she discovers Bambang, a very jittery tapir who has somehow wandered far away from the Malaysian jungle to which he belongs. What follows is a blossoming friendship between a short-sighted tapir who loves trying on hats and a sensible young girl. What will she do about the Collector who wants to put Bambang in a glass case? And … [Read more...]
The A-Z Djinn Detective Agency
Ashwin Kamath is determined to earn enough money to sponsor his own school trip. Unfortunately, his determination translates into one disastrous idea after another. On the surface, each idea seems perfectly harmless. When the idea turns into action, the madness begins. Things take a delightful turn when Ashwin finds a book on summoning a djinni. At first, of course, he pooh-poohs the idea of a djinni. Later, though, a little intrigued, he decides to give it a shot. And he summons Zubeida. The A-Z Djinn Detective Agency had me chuckling time and time again. The characters were all lovely - from the grumpy old man Oz to Mrs Kamath, who is both immensely proud of her son and increasingly annoyed with his ability to get into trouble. The most wonderful character of all, though, is spirited (pun intended) Zubeida. She is an absolute joy to read. She is funny and hot-tempered, and has a … [Read more...]
Daddy Come Lately
Priya knows that her father is dead. She is a 'post-humorous' child, as she calls herself until her mother gently corrects her, saying that it is 'posthumous', not post-humorous - and that she isn't posthumous anyway. Her father is alive, and has just found out that he has a daughter. Worse, he wants not only to meet her, but also to get to know her. And Priya, man-hating as she is convinced she is, knows that this spells bad news. Characters leap out of the pages of Daddy Come Lately, and so many of them are wonderful! Priya is (mostly) a fun character. There is one bit towards the end of the book where she behaves a little more melodramatically than I would like, but that takes little away from how real she is. Mr Sarkar, aka Dad the Bad, is a wonderful character, and that makes me wish I had written this post in time for Father's Day. An independent, no-nonsense dad, he … [Read more...]
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