It's been a while since I wrote, mainly because I've been reading. Here's a look at some of what I've read recently.As a child, I enjoyed reading and collecting the entire Animal Ark series. As I grew older, I learned that Lucy Daniels, the author of the series, did not exist. Just like Carolyn Keene and Franklin W. Dixon. While I never enjoyed Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys, I loved Animal Ark. I loved the names of the books - Owl in the Office, Hamster in a Hamper, Roo on a Rock ... I wanted to have them all.I imagine the Silver Dolphins series somewhat like that. The stories, in themselves, may not be memorable, but Stolen Treasures is a sweet story that build loyalty in young readers for the series as a whole. Children are always animal-lovers. Some are more vicarious in this love than others, but most enjoy books that … [Read more...]
What Went By
It's taken me a while to write about the last month. How full of emotions it has been!We performed in Kalakshetra for Pushpa Teacher and Jaya Teacher, my teacher's teachers. We peaked and fell, rising and falling with a tide of emotions. We felt we underperformed, and then we were overwhelmed by everyone's responses. The teachers praised the performance; nothing else is important. My heart is brimming with joy and gratitude.In Bangalore, I did a two-day reading workshop. I wrote about day one here on the blog, but kept postponing it, even though I've been waiting to talk about how wonderful it was to conduct a workshop there.Atta Galatta is a delightful place, with the perfect ambience for a reading workshop. What warmed my heart is that the store ordered ten copies of The Story-Catcher, some of which were bought by the children after the session. (If you're in Bangalore and … [Read more...]
Day One: Reading Workshop at Atta Galatta
It's wonderful to have a dear childhood friend attend a workshop of mine and diligently take pictures! I had a delightful morning at my reading workshop at Atta Galatta, Bangalore. … [Read more...]
Empty Quarter (Girl on the Run Book 2)
I sat at Coimbatore train station, book in hand."What happened?" asked my sister, looking at my face.I grinned. "I'm inside this book." I added, quickly, "Will you keep a lookout for the train? I may not notice when it pulls in."That's how Empty Quarter was.As with Cat's Cradle, I jumped straight into the series without reading the first book. It was simply wonderful. What impressed me most of all is how rounded each character is. Christopher Lock is the perfect combination of grandfather and career-obsessed, calculating official. I love Darcie Lock, her stupidities and her beauty.Empty Quarter is the perfect combination of humour, anticipation and excitement. Reading it, I realised how effortlessly the story moves from up to down to up to down, pulling the reader through all the twists and turns in the plot. The confused mixture of child and adult in … [Read more...]
Reading Workshop at Atta Galatta, Bengaluru
I'm conducting a two-day reading workshop at Bengaluru!Highlights: >Read aloud >Act out a story >Develop a love for reading >Imagine and create >Play a vocabulary game >Learn about book-publishing >Understand what copyright isAge-group: 8-12 years Dates: 4th and 5th July, 2015 Time: 11 am to 1 pm Total duration: 4 hours Fee: Rs 500 per child Venue: Atta Galatta Phone: 080-4160 0677 Contact Varsha at 09890798756 seshanvarsha@gmail.com … [Read more...]
Cauldron Spells
What happens when a foolish dragon falls into a cauldron and makes it too misshapen for it to function normally? What happens when the bottle of frogspell that you thought you were carrying turns out to be blueberries mixed with porridge? What happens when a young girl sets out to become a squire?Cauldron Spells was delightful, full of bubbles of laughter and fun. Accompanied by the dragon Adolphus and the rat Ferocious, Max and Olivia are set to turn the Arthurian world upside down. Fortunately, Caradoc the bard (who turns out to be someone quite special at the end) and Merlin are looking out for them.Cauldron Spells was full of magic - in the story and its telling. It filled me up with warmth and smiles, and a longing to read the other two in the series. Or more, if there are more.Title Cauldron SpellsAuthor C.J. BusbyGenre Arthurian FantasyRating (out of … [Read more...]
The Indian in the Cupboard
I picked up The Indian in the Cupboard full of apprehension. For a long time, I have intended to read this book. Yet, I have realised of late that I have read so much modern writing that older writing seems dry and slow. 1980 is rather a long time ago, and I was not sure how much I would enjoy the book. I was scared I would be offended by the term 'Indian'. I wondered if the part of my mind that studied English literature and critical theory would find the book racist or offensive.It did not. The Indian in the Cupboard was so charming that the part of my mind that could have judged it as racist dozed off just for a little while. I was not offended by the broken English the "Indian" spoke, or by the simple mind Little Bull seemed to have. I enjoyed the book tremendously.When Patrick gives Omri the plastic figure of an "Indian" for his birthday, Omri is unimpressed. Yet, the collection … [Read more...]
Sea of Tears
The cover illustration of Sea of Tears was just lovely. The wake of a boat curving into a big 'S', a little girl looking out at the sea ... It was a cover I could keep looking at.The book could have been better, though. I enjoyed much of it, but there were parts that left me cold. In many places, Jasmine's emotions were sudden and unexpected, leaving the reader far behind. I realise over and over again that the difference between fact and fiction is that fiction needs to be believable.Jasmine is a twelve-year-old whose parents decide to move from London to Barbados because they are increasingly alarmed at the things happening in London. Jasmine's cultural identity is beautifully portrayed as a mixture between her racial roots and upbringing, and London life around her. Jasmine's father speaks out of the pages of the book, emerging as a traditional father, who would not think of … [Read more...]
Berlin Olympics
I picked up Berlin Olympics assuming it was about a real person. Sure, I expected historical fiction, but my knowledge of Olympic swimmers is not good enough to have known that Eleanor Rhys Davies is not a real person.In the beginning, I was disappointed. I don't know why; I don't know what I expected. Yet, as I read on, the story grew on me. What I enjoyed most of all is how natural the whole story feels, echoing classics like The Diary of a Young Girl. Eleanor, like Anne Frank, spoke to me through the pages of the book, making me believe in her and understand her.Written as a series of diary entries, Berlin Olympics is the story of a young swimmer growing up in the 1930s. With Mosley and Hitler rising to power, Eleanor almost feels guilty that she does not experience the fear and hardships her Jewish friend Sarah does. The 1936 Olympics make all her questions rise to the fore. … [Read more...]
Cat’s Cradle
Sometimes, especially when you read a lot of different kinds of books that you've picked up based solely on the cover, one book jumps out and takes you by surprise. It makes you read on and on, and it makes you chuckle even when you are in a public place and ought to be behaving decorously.Cat's Cradle was exactly like that. I shouted with laughter, giggled and grinned. I was drawn into the story of Cat and her search for her family, even though this is the sixth book in the series, and I have not read any of the others.I've read The Glass Swallow (which I enjoyed thoroughly) and Dragonfly (which I quite enjoyed), and I picked up Cat's Cradle a little sceptically because it is not the first of the series, and because I was not sure if it would be my kind of book. It was.Cat Royal - orphan, adventuress, actress - is a sparkling character, leaping out of the pages and into my … [Read more...]