It's Teachers' Day - the day when every teacher goes home with a mountain of cards. As a writer and teacher, how can I not celebrate all the fictional teachers I love?When I started writing this post, I thought, first, of all the teachers I've created in my stories. The Story-Catcher has very few; offhand, I can think of just the nameless coach in "The Nationals".Dragonflies, Jigsaws, and Seashells has three; perhaps because I started teaching a lot more ...? Mr Kaushik Natraj from "Treasure-Hunt", Miss Philips from "A Drawing Lesson" and Miss Kala Ramdev from "A Retired Teacher": I like Mr Kaushik most!Edited to add: My latest book Sisters at New Dawn is a school story, so it's full of teachers. I would love to know who your favourites are!Naturally, I then went on to think about all the fictional teachers I love, particularly in children's fiction. Here … [Read more...]
Top Ten: Middle-Grade Books in 2018
My list of favourite middle-grade books was the most difficult one to make! Until the second I hit 'Publish', I kept changing my mind about which books to include. I almost made this top fifteen - it is my blog after all, no one is dictating how many I should have here ... But I restricted myself. And yes, there are at least five more that I want to put here but didn't.The Girl Who Walked on AirThe Girl Who Walked on Air is the perfect combination of adventure, suspense and drama. Louie dreams of becoming the showstopper of the circus, but for some reason, Mr Chipchase never gives her the chance to demonstrate her talent. On the day he does, everything changes, and Louie must demonstrate her courage in more ways than one. From the details of a Victorian circus to the high drama of performance, I enjoyed everything about this book!Charmed Life (Chrestomanci … [Read more...]
Dear Mrs. Naidu
Dear Mrs. Naidu has been on my list of books to read for a long time now. I finally read it today, and it came at the perfect time.Sure, the book is important. It is an eye-opener. But to talk about just those things to the exclusion of all else is to take away the charm of the voice of the lead character Sarojini. She is one of my favourite characters in literature. I love how she writes!Twelve-year-old Sarojini goes to a government school in Bangalore. When a new teacher, Annie Miss, joins the school, Sarojini is puzzled by Annie Miss's strange ideas of a 'just-and-beautiful-world'. But Annie Miss's ideas lead her to a club on child rights, which in turn makes her learn that she has a right to education. Annie Miss says that writing letters can help her brain and heart grow, and honestly, Sarojini is more concerned about the brain bit because that is what will get her a job, … [Read more...]