I read Agalya in the Spotlight a couple of months ago, and I knew I would introduce it to my book club very soon. It's a light, easy read, one that I'm sure my book clubbers will enjoy. I've read Misfit Madhu with two batches of Read, Write, Explore, and reading a book by an author we're familiar with is always fun! Fairy Tales Rapunzel is a well-known fairytale, one that children are familiar with also because of the movie Tangled. At my book club, we'll try to do a group activity in which characters from one familiar world meet characters from another. Where would they meet and what would they talk about? Exploring this promises to be fun! Performing A book club is never about just reading. I like to link the stories we read to all kinds of activities. Since Agalya in the Spotlight is all about drama, I will ask the children at … [Read more...]
Agalya in the Spotlight
When I learned that Divya Anand had a new book out, I knew I had to read it. I loved Misfit Madhu. I’ve read it with my book club twice, and the children enjoyed it each time!Agalya in the Spotlight is just as breezy a read. I was invested in the characters from the very beginning. How could I not be when in the first chapter itself there’s a character called Varsha who loves dancing? Varsha makes no further appearance in the story, but the other characters more than make up.When class V A is to stage Rapunzel, Agalya is delighted. She loves the story, or more specifically, the movie Tangled. She’s determined to get the lead role, and she thinks the competition between her best friend and her will be simple, friendly rivalry.When she gets the role at the cost of her friendship, however, things start tumbling downhill. She must find courage within herself to keep going, … [Read more...]
Misfit Madhu
We're rereading Misfit Madhu at my book club! It was a favourite when I read it two years ago, although it's longer and slightly more complex than the books we usually read. I'm waiting to read it again!Madhu makes an app that goes viral. At first, she can't quite believe it, but soon, she begins to bask in the attention. Things quickly go wrong, though, and Madhu must decide between what she wants and what's right. Here's what we'll do as we read the book! Apps When we read Cricket for the Crocodile, we did an activity where we made our own games. One child made a rudimentary online game, which made me wonder: what apps do children feel they need? While we won't create an app (I know nothing about coding!), we will try to design one, coming up with a name, a purpose and details of what the app can do, no matter how farfetched. What … [Read more...]
Misfit Madhu
I wish I'd known that author Divya Anand would be at the Neev Literature Festival; I would have taken my copy of Misfit Madhu along for her to sign!Misfit Madhu is a lovely book - an easy, engaging read that kept me hooked. Madhu is usually invisible. If anyone notices her, it's only to give her a moniker like Misfit Madhu, or No Name, or something else equally annoying. But when she makes an app called School Santhe, she suddenly finds herself in the limelight because her app goes viral. She's earned herself a new name - Maker Madhu!The problem, however, is that when the app begins to be misused, she needs to decide what to do. Should she let go of her hard-earned popularity and reset her app? Or just try to fix things that might not really be fixable?Noor is the perfect best friend, Madhu's moral compass. She pushes Madhu to do what is right, and I love the way she does … [Read more...]