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 […]
Top 5 Young Adult Books – 2024
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 […]
Top 10 Middle Grade Books – 2024
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 […]
The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle
Diaphoresis and dyslexia. Mason Buttle has both, and both trouble him. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg of his troubles. His best friend Benny Kilmartin is dead. His […]
The One and Only Ruby
Is there any child who doesn’t love elephants? Magnificent African elephants with their enormous tusks, the gentler-looking Asian elephants with their smaller ears—I loved them all. So, of course I […]
The One and Only Bob
Katherine Applegate’s books are a treasure. Recently, I reread The One and Only Bob, a lovely book featuring an unforgettable character. About a month ago, I reviewed Odder, and I […]
Rick
I’ve been reading about Melissa and Rick on so many book lists that I’ve had Alex Gino’s books on my (endless) TBR forever. I finally read Rick, and I realise […]
When You Trap a Tiger
What an unexpected book! Often, I don’t know much about books before I read them. Some books keep showing up on my social media. Others are recommended to me multiple […]
Amil and the After
Five years ago, I read The Night Diary. It’s a story that brings alive the bewilderment of children forced to move out of their homes during the Partition. But just […]
You Go First
I’ve been wanting to read Erin Entrada Kelly’s books for a while. As a writer of middle-grade, hers is a name that keeps popping up. I finally read You Go […]
The Last Windwitch
It’s been a while since I read fantasy! I often find it hard to get into fantasy because of the detailed world-building that it demands. I think that’s one of […]
Pax, Journey Home
I haven’t read Pax, but I picked up Pax, Journey Home from Kahaani Box. It’s a lovely book, but I have a warning – don’t read the blurb! I don’t […]
Other Words for Home
Search for ‘verse novels for middle-grade readers’, and Other Words for Home is bound to come up. It’s a Newbery Honor Book and a New York Times bestseller. However, just […]
Mascot
Mascot by Charles Waters and Traci Sorell is the third and last book I read because it’s on the required reading list for an online workshop on revising your verse novel that […]
A Melody in Mysore
With Independence Day just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to read A Melody in Mysore by Shruthi Rao, a new addition to the Songs of Freedom series. I’ve […]
Restart
What if you got the chance to start your life all over again? Would you make any changes? Restart by Gordon Korman is a powerful story about getting a second […]
Living with Adi
As one of the judges of the Scholastic Asian Book Award 2023, I was delighted to see Living with Adi on Duckbill’s list! Even when I was reading the draft, […]
Starfish
On nearly any list of “must-read” verse novels for middle-graders, I come across Starfish. I finally read it, and I completely understand why it’s on so many lists. There are […]
Where the Heart Should Be
I love historical fiction, and I love novels in verse. And I love Sarah Crossan’s books. When all three come together, the chances of my not liking the book are […]
In the Beautiful Country
Verse novels are beautiful. I love how sparse and hard-hitting they are, and I’ve been reading them all the more because I’ve been writing verse too. Uncontrollable came out last […]