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© Copyright 2013 - 2025
Varsha Seshan

Willodeen

August 5, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Screechers. Hummingbears. Peacock snails.  I’m always amazed when writers seem to effortlessly bring a fantastical world to life, and Katherine Applegate is a master at it. I came across it first in Crenshaw (one of the top 5 chapter books I read in 2020); Willodeen left me awestruck. Willodeen plays out in a world very much like […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for ages nine and ten, books for tweens, fantasy, Katherine Applegate, Middle Grade, reading, review, Willodeen

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

Circus Mirandus

June 21, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I remember the first time I came across the idea that you have to believe in magic for it to be real. I remember my skin tingling, and a kind of excited joy making my hair stand on end. That’s the mood Circus Mirandus creates, although I’m no longer a child reading about magic for […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for tweens, Cassie Beasley, Circus Mirandus, fantasy, Middle Grade, reading, review

Echo

February 5, 2025 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Do you ever read the author’s note and acknowledgements? I love reading them! For example, at the end of Echo, author Pam Muñoz Ryan writes: It was [in the German Harmonica and Accordion Museum in Trossingen] in a glass case that I discovered the letters from thankful family members of soldiers whose lives were once […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: books for tweens, Echo, fantasy, historical fiction, Middle Grade, Pam Muñoz Ryan, reading, review

The Last Windwitch

September 19, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

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, […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for tweens, fantasy, Jennifer Adam, Middle Grade, reading, review, The Last Windwitch

The Girl Who Drank the Moon

April 6, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Recently, I reread The Girl Who Drank the Moon and then looked through my blog to see what I’d written about it the first time I read it. That’s when I realised I hadn’t written about it at all! It’s such a gorgeous read that I have no idea how I skipped writing about it! […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: books for tweens, fantasy, Kelly Barnhill, Middle Grade, reading, review, The Girl Who Drank the Moon

Uncontrollable – The Story Behind the Story

February 16, 2024 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

I love to read about how a book that I’m reading came into being. What made the writer write this particular book? What are some of those little stories the reader knows nothing about? And that’s why I’ve written a post like this for three of my books: Sisters at New Dawn Dragonflies, Jigsaws and […]

Filed Under: Books, Writing Tagged With: fantasy, Middle Grade, novel in verse, Uncontrollable

My Year in Writing: 2023

January 15, 2024 by Varsha Seshan 2 Comments

The year 2023 was remarkably kind to me as an author. It was a year full of lit fests, school visits, and, most importantly, new stories! Uncontrollable What can I say about Uncontrollable, my first verse novel? ‘Addictive.”Unputdownable.”Ambitious and original.’I keep going back and reading all these heart-warming emails I’ve received about it.Yes, it is ambitious. […]

Filed Under: Books, Writing Tagged With: Chapter Book, Dance Nani Dance, Dharas Revolution, fantasy, Making a Clone, Middle Grade, Nail Tree, novel in verse, picture books, short story, Uncontrollable

The Lie Tree

May 7, 2018 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

The Lie Tree looked fascinating, but I wondered if it was my kind of book. Everyone who was quoted on the cover said it was ‘dark’ and compelling, and I cannot say that I am a fan of dark literature. I get scared too easily, and I don’t enjoy getting scared. I decided to borrow it […]

Filed Under: Books Tagged With: fantasy, Frances Hardinge, murder, mystery, reading, review, YA

Faerie Heart

May 27, 2013 by Varsha Seshan Leave a Comment

Incredible. As a child, I did not like novels that were not divided into chapters. I have no idea why. The only exception was Mary Poppins. I somehow think this one would have been an exception too. What a visual treat! The imagination just blew me over. A coverlet and a bed made of insects’ […]

Filed Under: Books, Children Tagged With: fantasy, imagination, review