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 why it pops up so often. It's such an important middle-grade book, one that I would have loved to read when I was twelve or thirteen. Everyone around Rick seems to be talking about crushes. His parents, being broad-minded, make it a point to ask whether there's a girl or a boy whom he likes. But Rick has never felt the way his classmates say they feel. He doesn't know what it means to have a crush, and he has no idea why. It doesn't help that his best friend is a homophobe, one who is always up for mischief if he isn't going to get caught. All at once, Rick feels like he is navigating too many new things - new experiences, an uncomfortable friend, and the big question of who he is. Sensitively told, Rick is a relatable … [Read more...]
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 times by children I teach. Usually, it takes me a while to get around to reading them, and based on who recommends a book to me, I sometimes have preconceived notions about what a book will be about. For instance, despite its name, I expected When You Trap a Tiger to be realistic fiction, with no fantasy or fable thrown in. I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong! Lily and her family move into her grandmother's house to take care of her. When the girl realises how sick her grandmother is, she knows that there's only one way to save her. The tiger from all her Halmoni's stories needs to be placated. She must do what it takes, and she must act on her own. The traditional Korean stories her grandmother has shared … [Read more...]
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 like the "happily ever after" at the end of fairytales glosses over the beginning of a new, complicated phase of life, safely reaching a new home after the Partition cannot be the end of a story. And with Amil and the After, we see that it isn't. The struggles and questions Nisha and Amil face don't end with the end of their journey across an arbitrary border. Now, through Amil's eyes, we follow another kind of journey. A journey that involves settling in, finding friends, and building a new home. The emotions of the two adolescents in the story come alive to us. Most importantly, we understand their guilt. What right do they have to be safe when so many others didn't make it? How is it fair that they have a roof … [Read more...]
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 First, and what an unusual, charming book it is! You Go First tells two stories, stories that barely meet. One is the story of Charlotte Lockard, who wishes she had a friend who would call her Lottie, or Charlie, or anything that made her feel closer, made her an intimate friend. But Charlotte she is, and Charlotte she remains, except online, where her name is Lottie Lock. And it's online that she meets Ben Boxer, who has his own set of problems. A strange sort of friendship emerges between Lottie and Ben. For Ben, Lottie is the one he would call if he won the lottery. For Lottie, online Scrabble with Ben feels like the one place where she's in control. And their friendship becomes something that matters, even as other … [Read more...]
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 the reasons writing Uncontrollable in verse worked so well for me. In the same way that I don't get sucked into a fantastical world easily, I can't write complex worlds without it feeling like some kind of info dump! But of course, well written fantasy draws you in slowly. The Girl Who Drank the Moon was like that for me, as was The Last Windwitch. Even though much of it was predictable, I enjoyed the book and the way the story plays out, bringing together gentleness and wonder. Brida does not know much about her past. She knows that Mother Magdi, a powerful hedgewitch, took her in, but that's about all. And somehow, green magic doesn't work for her at all. She can't remember which herb is which, and she feels like a … [Read more...]
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 often read the blurb before I read a book, and so often when I do, I regret it! A huge chunk of what is mentioned in the blurb happens in the last twenty pages of the book, and I would have loved to discover it through the book rather than before I started reading! Pax, Journey Home is the story of a boy and a fox, both of whom have suffered immense losses. The boy Peter is determined never to love again, never to find family and never to get attached. The fox Pax, on the other hand, is quick to forgive and quick to make friends. As the story unfolds, we walk two parallel journeys of healing. Pax and Peter walk side by side, never meeting, but forever aware of each other. And in their own ways, they trust, love, and find home. I … [Read more...]
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 like I said when I reviewed Red, White and Whole, I wasn't sure if I wanted to read yet another immigration story. And perhaps that was why it fell short for me. I've read too many of these - Inside Out and Back Again, In the Beautiful Country and Red, White and Whole come to mind immediately. While Other Words for Home is a sweet story, I was not drawn into it the way I was into the last two. When unrest begins to mount in Syria, Jude's family makes a decision. Jude and her mother will move to America, where her uncle lives. But her father and brother stay back. And so begins the story of a family divided by the ocean, struggling to figure out what home is. Jude sometimes feels like her mother doesn't want her … [Read more...]
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 I will be attending later this year thanks to my Highlights Foundation scholarship. A nuanced story in verse exploring multiple perspectives, Mascot reminds us that activism must be intersectional for it to be meaningful. Ms Williams, an eighth grade teacher, invites her class to debate whether the mascot of the school should stay. Callie is convinced that there's no room for debate. It's absurd that people think it's okay to appropriate to use a copper-toned, muscled, tomahawk-wielding caricature as a mascot. Others, however, believe that the mascot honours Native American tradition and it is absurd to replace it with something else. Six eighth-graders from a variety of backgrounds and beliefs begin to talk … [Read more...]
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 thoroughly enjoyed most of the books in the series, some more than others. Set in different parts of the country in the first half of the twentieth century, each book is a snapshot of what it might have been like to be a child during the independence struggle. Growing up in Mysore, Leela is relatively cocooned from the British rule. Under the Maharaja, many feel safe. The British struggle isn't relevant to their lives. But as the freedom struggle sweeps across the nation, questions emerge. How long will they be sheltered? And if Leela wants to join the movement, how can she? The answer is in the title itself: through music. Music isn't for everyone, but Leela discovers just how powerful it can be. Leela's bond with … [Read more...]
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 chance. The story opens with Chase Ambrose in hospital. He's fallen off his roof and forgotten everything about who he used to be. And when he returns to school, he doesn't know what to make of the way everyone reacts to him. Slowly, he discovers he was the worst kind of bully. Even as he remembers who he used to be, he needs to decide who he wants to be. I've read just one other book by Gordon Korman, Schooled. Just like in Schooled, it's the characters who drive the story, although the plot is gripping too. Chase Ambrose, erstwhile bully, has us feeling for him, wanting to forgive everything he's done, no matter how bad it may have been. More, each character is vividly drawn--from the other bullies to the girl who's … [Read more...]
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