On nearly any list of "must-read" verse novels for middle-graders, I come across Starfish. I finally read it, and I completely understand why it's on so many lists. There are so many things -- some small, some big -- that make this book special. Twelve-year-old Ellie has Fat Girl Rules to protect herself. She must never draw attention to the way her body jiggles. She should try to be invisible, never make waves. She even holds a pillow in front of herself without even realising it to hide her body as best she can. She knows, however, that her problem is not her being fat. Rather, it is how other people make her feel because she is fat. And the other people, unfortunately, start with her family. Specifically her mother who uses fridge magnets to draw Ellie's attention to articles about losing weight. And her brother, who loses no opportunity to mock her or look at her with … [Read more...]
In the Beautiful Country
Verse novels are beautiful. I love how sparse and hard-hitting they are, and I've been reading them all the more because I've been writing verse too. Uncontrollable came out last year, and Fishbowl will be out later this year. But I read In the Beautiful Country by Jane Kuo because it's on the required reading list for a workshop that I'm excited to attend later this year. I'm honoured to have received a Highlights Foundation scholarship for an online workshop of my choice, and I've chosen one on revising my verse novel. In the Beautiful Country is the first book I've read for the workshop! The United States of America is the beautiful country. At least, that's what it is called in Taiwan, which is where Anna, aka Ai Shi, is from. But is it a beautiful country when she cannot understand what her schoolmates are saying? Is it a beautiful country when she is teased and bullied for … [Read more...]
How to Win an Election: A Most Unreliable Guide
It's voting season, the best time to read How to Win an Election: A Most Unreliable Guide! I would argue, however, that any time is a good time to read the book because it's hilarious, light, and fun. When Sachin is disqualified from standing for the middle school elections, he does the next best thing. He becomes the campaign manager for his best friend Mini. He comes up with the best ideas. Taco Tuesday! A new snazzy name for Mini--eM! A rap song! Unfortunately, someone is out to sabotage their campaign. A lizard--whose species Sachin recognises--soils a competitor's nomination papers. A rap song maligning another candidate is written on the bathroom mirror. Everything is carefully chosen to frame Mini and Sachin, right up to the time that Mini is disqualified too. The duo must clear their names, and they engage in undercover spying, a little bit of lying, and a chase to … [Read more...]
Sky Hawk
Even as a child, I loved stories about the environment, especially stories where children make difficult decisions to save an animal. So many books I've recently read fit the bill too--book club reads like the Bat series, Trunk Call for Ajju, and, in a very different way, At Least a Fish. Sky Hawk by Gill Lewis is about difficult decisions too. It is another beautiful book, one that I've been meaning to read for ages. It begins slowly, but draws you in, making the loch in which it is set come alive. When Callum and his friends discover Iona--practically an outcast--on Callum's farm, they chase her away. But Callum is uneasy. He meets Iona and thanks to her, he discovers that an osprey is nesting on their land. Callum and Iona know how important it is to keep the osprey secret because all too many people think of it as a game to steal osprey eggs. Yet, when circumstances change, … [Read more...]
The Girl Who Drank the Moon
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! As often happens with me, I was drawn to the book by its gorgeous cover. And when I started reading, I was enchanted. Detailed world-building, intricate plotting and a delightful balance of seriousness and humour come together in this middle-grade work of fantasy. Most of all, though, I love how poetic and beautiful it is. The Protectorate is always shrouded in a fog of sorrow. This is because every year, on the Day of Sacrifice, the youngest child is given up to appease the Witch in the Woods. No one knows why the Witch wants babies. But everyone knows that if the Witch is not appeased, she will destroy the … [Read more...]
Uncontrollable – The Story Behind the Story
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 DawnDragonflies, Jigsaws and SeashellsThe Clockwala's CluesNow, it's time for Uncontrollable, which has rather unconventional beginnings. Why did I write a fantasy in verse? What was I thinking?The answer is that it didn't start off in verse at all. I wrote it in prose, probably sometime in 2018, and I started pitching it in 2019. I'm a rewriter much more than a writer, and here's how Uncontrollable became what it is. I first pitched The Machine of Kallua (as it was then called) on 7 May 2019. Yes, I have a spreadsheet to keep track of submissions. Publisher One held on to for quite a while, … [Read more...]
Twitch
Often, I read books like Twitch with a very clear agenda in mind--to decide whether to read it with my book club. One chapter in, and I was sure I would not. The beginning seemed rather too violent for me to read with a group online, when I cannot necessarily gauge how each child is reacting to it. It's a terrible scene, which comes alive with a graphic description of how a group of bullies would kill a pigeon. The next chapter seemed equally violent, but by then, I was sucked into the story. And soon, there was no stopping me. I read on and on, enjoying the pace, the descriptions and the style of the story. I love the gentleness of the narrative, and the fact that it lets the reader fully experience the poetry and beauty of nature. Twitch, the protagonist, is a sensitive, observant character, who makes us listen to the dawn chorus as the birds around him awake. He makes us feel the … [Read more...]
Journey to the River Sea
I read Journey to the River Sea years ago, probably over a decade ago. I loved it so much that it featured on my list of all-time favourite books for a long time. Eventually, I realised that even though I still thought about it as one of my favourites, I didn't quite remember the story. I remembered all the emotions I felt when I read it, but the story? I just had a hazy idea. It was time to reread it. And I enjoyed it just as much the second time around. Maia's guardian Mr Murray has been hunting for relatives who will take the child in ever since her parents died. When he finds distant relatives of hers in the Amazon, she is ecstatic. She reads up about the Amazon and imagines all kinds of wonderful things about her family. Instead, she finds two very English girls who hate everything that's not English and are terrified of going out into the jungle. As Maia quickly gets … [Read more...]
When Fairyland Lost Its Magic
We need more illustrated middle-grade books! I read When Fairyland Lots Its Magic on my way to Kolkata for the Junior Kolkata Literary Meet, and there was so much to love about it! The way Bijal Vachharajani plays with fairytales (like Gretel and Hansel), the comments about odd names (Little Red Riding Hood? Who names a child after the clothes she wears?), and the puns about pages and trolls ... delightful! At the JKLM, Bijal and I were in conversation, purportedly about storifying important issues such as climate change and democracy through fairy tales and fantasy. Of course, we did talk about issues and why they find their way into fiction, but we also spoke about the joy of stories and the things we do when we write. We spoke of magic, and how we find it in nature, in ourselves, and between the pages of a book. Retelling fairytales with the idea of the climate crisis … [Read more...]
My Year in Writing: 2023
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. It is a middle-grade fantasy in verse. In November 2023, I was shortlisted for the Neev Literature Festival fellowship. During the interview, I met six children's literature experts, and they mentioned how they'd hunted for other examples of fantasy written in verse ... and had drawn a blank.They thought of Odder by Katherine Applegate, but it isn't really fantasy; the protagonist is an animal, but the book is realistic fiction nonetheless.So maybe, Uncontrollable is really one of its kind. It's both terrifying and … [Read more...]
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