I've been intrigued by the Girls of India series for a while, but I hadn't read any of the books in the series until Penguin sent me A Chera Adventure to review. I enjoy historical fiction. And middle-grade historical fiction set in south India? I can't think of a single example of a book that fits the category, so I was more than a little excited to read this one. With a spunky protagonist at the centre, A Chera Adventure explores the diversity of medieval Kerala. Sharadha, who comes from a family of healers, knows little beyond her matriarchal family and her rule-bound world. Her strict grandmother, though affectionate, insists on decorum and discipline, neither of which sits well with Sharadha. How can a young girl fired by the spirit of adventure put curiosity aside? Inquisitiveness and good old rule-breaking lead her away from her sheltered life and family. Stowing away … [Read more...]
The Train to Tanjore
It's 1942 in Tanjore, and Thambi wants to know more about the Quit India movement. Encouraged by his father, he visits the library regularly to scour the newspapers. But there's precious little in the papers about anything except the war raging in Europe. Thambi wants to know about Gandhiji and the other freedom fighters! Not Hitler and the Japanese! Yet, he knows that the war is frightening too. In fact, his new friend Sumit has moved to Tanjore from faraway Bengal because of the threat of a Japanese attack. Is Sumit right? Are the Japanese all set to attack Thanjavur too? Even with everything happening all around Thambi, Hitler, the British and the Japanese are only one small part of his world. Like all the other books in the Songs of Freedom series, The Train to Tanjore beautifully balances Thambi's individual struggles with the larger socio-political picture. More often than … [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...]
Nadya
Nadya's family is perfect, or so it seems. It's full of laughter and fun, and she knows that no matter where she is, her father will find her. But one day, things don't seem so perfect anymore. Eventually, Nadya's father tells her that he's going away. He promises he'll be back soon, but that's a lie. With minimal text and powerful, bold illustration, Nadya tells the story of family, and relationships that need to change and grow. Emotions run high, and pictures, rather than text, propel the story, bringing a sense of urgency into the story and highlighting the conflict and tension in the family. And I loved it. I loved how much was expressed in so little. Graphic novels work best for me when they are like this - with expressive pictures doing most of the talking. Especially for middle-grade readers who struggle with dense text, Nadya is the perfect read! TitleNadyaAuthor … [Read more...]
A Conspiracy in Calcutta
A Conspiracy in Calcutta is the third book I've read from the Songs of Freedom series, and it's my favourite so far! For one, Calcutta is a city that is close to my heart. I spent just a couple of years there, but they were important, full years. More than the setting, though (unlike with That Year at Manikoil), I loved the story. The protagonist Bithi is a child after my own heart. When I studied about the struggle for independence, I often dreamt of having lived in the 1940s, marching with Gandhi, doing something meaningful, and making it to History textbooks. And that's what drives Bithi. Her father says that she will make history. Bithi is fired by the idea; she just needs to figure out how to go about getting her name in History books. I also loved the weaving together of plots and subplots in A Conspiracy in Calcutta. Each character has a unique arc. Bithi's Ma surprised … [Read more...]
The Best At It
Rahul Kapoor wants to be the best at it. The best at what? Honestly, anything. Football, acting ... anything except Maths. He doesn't want to fit into the stereotype of the nerdy American Indian. In fact, he wants as little to do with his Indianness as possible. For instance, he doesn't want to be part of the International Bazaar that his mother's friends, the Auntie Squad, are organising. And he'd like to be a little less brown. Oh, and he finds his father's Bollywood music more than a little embarrassing. The Best At It was a gentle, lovely book. Yes, I did cringe more than once, but isn't adolescence full of cringeworthy moments? Unerringly, The Best At It goes to the heart of each moment, embarrassing or sad, wildly happy or confusing. And that - the authenticity of tone on each page - is what drew me to the story. Who are we? Who do we want to be? How can we fit in? Even when … [Read more...]
That Year at Manikoil
I couldn't have read That Year at Manikoil on a better day if I'd planned it. I don't even remember how long ago I bought my copy, but it was today, Independence Day, that I sat down with it. And it was only when I was close to finishing it that I realised what an apt day it was to have read a book from the Songs of Freedom series. That Year at Manikoil is a rich, beautifully told story. Like The Chowpatty Cooking Club, it traces the story of young girls in the 1940s. World War II continues to rage on, and the protagonist Raji is confused. Why does her Thatha entertain British guests? Is he a coward? Why is her brother Gopu Anna fighting a war for the British? And a question that bothers her right through: what is her part in the struggle for independence? I love how authentic Raji's voice is. She wants to do something meaningful, but it is all too easy to get tempted by more … [Read more...]
Fish in a Tree
Just like with Counting in 7s, I ended up reading Fish in a Tree because of the Neev Literature Festival Reading Challenge. I loved listening to Lynda Mullaly Hunt speak. She left me with so much to think about, both as a writer and as a reader. I'd read nothing she'd written, so I made a note of that and looked out for her books. The first one to come my way was the New York Times bestseller, Fish in a Tree. And I loved it. Ally Nickerson is the proverbial fish in the tree. She can't read, and it's mortifying. So, she pretends that everything she does is a joke. That she deliberately makes mistakes while reading. That she wants to be funny. And each time she does that, she grows more and more vulnerable. Why is reading just so hard? One day, along comes Ally's saviour in the form of Mr. Daniels who sees what Ally is desperately trying to hide. He recognises that Ally is … [Read more...]
The Chowpatty Cooking Club
Who didn't want to be a freedom fighter while studying about the independence movement? I know I dreamt of being a heroine - just like Sakina in The Chowpatty Cooking Club. I would do something meaningful and brave. I would do whatever it took! But like Sakina, the question was what? Bursting with humour, innocence and a burning, childlike desire to prove yourself, The Chowpatty Cooking Club by Lubaina Bandukwala is a lovely read. It is the tale of three young children who are determined to be heroes. It's tough being a heroine when you have a strict grandfather, but Sakina must triumph. She, Zenobia and Mehul must do everything they can - learn to cycle, make flags, investigate the People's Radio ... But is it enough? Are they doing anything at all? They are, but they don't know it yet. Written almost like a murder mystery, The Chowpatty Cooking Club gives us glimpses of a … [Read more...]
The Nameless God
Often, when I read a book written for children, I wonder if I would have liked it as a child. I was quite conservative in my reading tastes right through school. I wasn't very willing to experiment, and I was drawn to just a few books. Yet, I think I would have enjoyed The Nameless God simply because it is so relatable. The characters are so much like I was as a child! Do you know anyone who has always been perfectly rational, completely unwilling to believe in superstition? I don't. As a child, I didn't believe in good luck charms or in the idea that seeing a single mynah was bad luck. But even though my brain wanted to be rational, I found myself wondering, Where's the harm in keeping a twig for good luck? Or, A single mynah might not bring me bad luck, but another mynah would make me happy, wouldn't it? And then there was religion. I wanted to believe. With a little idol under … [Read more...]
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