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© Copyright 2013 - 2025
Varsha Seshan

The Great Sneak-Out

September 25, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

What an adorable book! The Great Sneak-Out is my favourite POFFS book because it’s such a perfect blend of ridiculous and heartwarming. The charm of the story begins with the dedication. The author Sanjana Kapur once hid her sister (the editor of this book, Aparna Kapur) under a table!? I would love to know more! […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, Chapter Book, early middle grade, POFFS, reading, review, Sanjana Kapur, Sunaina Coelho, The Great Sneak-Out

The Mystery of the Disappearing Drone

September 17, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

The AKA Detective Club is back with another mystery to solve! A couple of months ago, we read The Mystery of the Missing Geometry Boxes at my book club for ages 9 and 10, and most of my book clubbers enjoyed it. A series of mysteries is always fun, so we’re sure to read The […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, early middle grade, reading, review, The Mystery of the Disappearing Drone, Vidya V

The Halloween Adventure and Other Stories

September 8, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

The World of Butterfingers works so well in the comic format! I’ve read just one book from the popular series by Khyrunnisa A before–Smash It, Butterfingers!–and it was an enjoyable read. This one, illustrated by Abhijeet Kini, is fun and engaging, reminding me of the Tinkle comics I read as a child. The Halloween Adventure […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: Abhijeet Kini, books for ages nine and ten, Butterfingers, comic, early middle grade, Khyrunnisa A, reading, review, The Halloween Adventure and Other Stories, The World of Butterfingers

The Upside Down River: Hannah’s Story

August 4, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Sometimes, you read a charming story, almost old-fashioned in its telling, and you don’t quite know why you like it so much. My Father’s Dragon was a book like that; The Upside Down River – Hannah’s Journey was another. When I picked up the book, I didn’t know that it was the sequel to a […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: adventure, books for ages nine and ten, early middle grade, fantasy, Hannah's Journey, Jean-Claude Mourlevat, reading, review, The Upside Down River

Agalya in the Spotlight

May 26, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

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 […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: Agalya in the Spotlight, books for ages nine and ten, Divya Anand, early middle grade, reading, review

Leeva at Last

January 15, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

If you like Roald Dahl’s Matilda, you’re sure to enjoy Leeva at Last by Sara Pennypacker! Leeva’s parents, in a perfectly Roald Dahl-esque way are impossibly cruel. They have all kinds of rules for Leeva. She can’t go to school; in fact she isn’t even permitted to step out of her yard. When, one day, […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, early middle grade, Leeva at Last, reading, review, Sara Pennypacker

Top 10 Early Middle Grade Books – 2024

January 9, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Many of the titles on this list of my favourite early middle grade books from 2024 are book club reads. Some, the children enjoyed thoroughly; others, I enjoyed more than the children did!  On the whole, I recommend these books for ages nine and up. In no particular order, here are my top ten early […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: Bat and the End of Everything, Birds on the Brain, books for ages nine and ten, early middle grade, Kushti Kid, No Talking, Petu Pumpkin: Freedom Fighter, reading, review, The Misadventures of a Diamond Thief, The Mystery of the Silk Umbrella, The One and Only Ruby, The Wishkeeper's Apprentice, The Worst Witch to the Rescue

The Wishkeeper’s Apprentice

October 23, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

What a charming book! Hopeful, whimsical and ever so sweet, The Wishkeeper’s Apprentice is a book I loved as an adult and would have enjoyed as a child. Rupus Beewinkle is an overworked wishkeeper. He needs an apprentice because there are so many wish snags, and he simply isn’t able to keep up. Unfortunately, the […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, early middle grade, Rachel Chivers Khoo, reading, review, The Wishkeeper's Apprentice

Leonora Bolt: The Great Gadget Games

September 25, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I love it when I come across books that I can read with my book club! I’ve been reading about Leonora Bolt for a while, but The Great Gadget Games is the first one I’ve read in the series. Clearly, earlier in the series, Leonora Bolt was in the clutches of her evil uncle Luther. […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, early middle grade, Leonora Bolt, Lucy Brandt, reading, review, The Great Gadget Games

Gooney Bird Greene

September 12, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Gooney Bird Greene was the second book I read from Kahaani Box, and it’s a fun story by an author whose work I admire. Lois Lowry has written such a range of books! I’ve read Number the Stars (one of my favourite reads from 2020), The Giver and Gathering Blue that I remember, and I […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, books for ages seven and eight, Chapter Book, early middle grade, Gooney Bird Greene, Lois Lowry, reading, review

An Alien in the Jam Factory

November 21, 2023 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

There’s something about book titles that can just grab your attention right away. An Alien in the Jam Factory is one of those. I often pick up books when I travel and when I was in Goa last month, I visited Literati for the first time. I browsed for quite a while before this book […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: An Alien in the Jam Factory, books for ages nine and ten, books for ages seven and eight, Chrissie Sains, early middle grade, Jenny Taylor, reading, review

Gobi Goes Viral

July 17, 2023 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Gopi compares everybody around him to a vegetable. His world comprises a capsicum, a carrot, a tomato, a sweet potato … The problem, of course, is that the moment he talks about it, he becomes Gobi, or worse, Fool Gobi. Trying to tell the bullies in class that it isn’t Fool, but Phool doesn’t help.  […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, books for ages seven and eight, Chapter Book, early middle grade, Gobi Goes Viral, reading, review, Vibha Batra

Munni Monster

February 21, 2023 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Mishti’s life is good. She has a best friend (never mind if said best friend is a little annoying), parents who love her, and a grandmother whom she adores. Everything’s perfect–until Munni, her grandmother’s cousin, comes to stay–no, live–with them. And suddenly, things are not idyllic anymore. Munni is a weirdo. She is old, but […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, early middle grade, Madhurima Vidyarthi, Munni Monster, reading, review

Love That Dog

July 29, 2022 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Last month, I had the opportunity to pitch a middle-grade verse novel to an editor, and as these things sometimes happen, the pitch turned into a conversation. We spoke about One and The Weight of Water (I prefer the first; the editor I was talking to prefers the second). I had not yet read Clap […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: early middle grade, Love That Dog, reading, review, Sharon Creech

Dungeon Tales II

April 11, 2022 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Munni finds an old book in her Mamaji’s shop. What does it say? ungeon ales? What could that possibly be? There’s only one way to find out – Munni must learn how to read, and properly. There’s a tiny problem – girls are forbidden to read in her village. But can that little detail stop […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: Dungeon Tales II, early middle grade, reading, review, Short Stories, Venita Coelho