I read the entire PARI series a few months ago, and I've been mulling over them ever since. I'm not usually a big fan of nonfiction, and I haven't yet worked with it at my online reading programme, but A Big Splash stayed with me.And then, there were stray conversations that made me think of the book over and over again. A child at my writing programme told me how much she liked it. Earlier this month, we worked with Flyaway Boy by Jane de Suza, and during one of our activities, a label many of the children gave themselves was 'sports-lover'. A sportsy book? Sure! I've done just Cricket for the Crocodile before, and it's time to introduce something else!A Big Splash is a quick read, and that makes it the ideal first book for any batch of my reading programme. It's a tale of grit and introduces so many big themes that I can't wait to work with … [Read more...]
A Big Splash
Dhivya loves swimming.But when her brother nearly drowns, she isn't allowed to swim in the lake anymore.Dhivya enjoys playing cricket with her friends.But they don't seem to want to play with her anymore.Now what?A Big Splash is a sensitively told story about a thirteen-year-old who blossoms not just into a champion swimmer, but into a sensitive human being. I love flawed protagonists, and Dhivya is exactly that - driven and passionate, but rather careless when it comes to letting her temper fly.Like all the other books in the PARI series, A Big Splash begins in a small village. The village tank is the only place where Dhivya is permitted to swim, and so, naturally, she has little to do with the world of competitive swimming. When she finds out about a district competition, however, she jumps at the opportunity. Swimming is everything to her, and here's her chance to … [Read more...]