What a gorgeous book! Gossamer by Lois Lowry is delicately woven, pulling at your heart strings as it takes you through a tapestry of dreams, sorrow, love and wonder. Littlest isn’t sure what she is. Is she a dog? But she doesn’t have a tail! Is she human? Her instructor Fastidious never answers her questions. […]
Beverly, Right Here
I never came across Kate DiCamillo’s work as a child. I haven’t read so many of her more famous books—not The Tale of Desperaux or Mercy Watson or any of those. I did read Because of Winn-Dixie with my book club, though, and we loved it! And now, I read Beverly, Right Here, another book […]
Bipathu and a Very Big Dream
Bipathu often has the same dream. A dream where she, her Ikka Saad, and Hrithik Roshan are playing football. But dreams don’t come true, do they? Especially not very big dreams like this one? As we read the story, we find out! Bipathu and a Very Big Dream is about dreams, reality, and everything in […]
Ammini Against the Storm
Ammini Against the Storm is a reflection of the world we live in, a world where the urban rich are immune to the raging storms that destroy the lives of the poor. Ammini’s parents work hard to send her to a private school so that she can rise above her circumstances and be something other […]
The Trickster
When Katha asked me whether I would be willing to review their upcoming release, The Trickster, I thought about it. I am not usually a fan of retellings. Additionally, I don’t post negative reviews; I review only books I enjoy. I decided I would take the chance, though, and I am glad I did! The […]
Friends Behind Walls
Inu and Putti are not allowed to play with each other. But what can they possibly do when everyone else in Shanti Park seems to have been born at the age of 30? They have no one to play with except each other! Soon they discover that they actually like each other and want to […]
The Space We’re In
Have you ever read a review that describes a book as being “full of heart”? Katya Balen’s The Space We’re In is exactly that–a book full of heart. It bursts with love and emotion, raw and authentic. And the voice? Perfect. Ten-year-old Frank sometimes resents his brother Max. Max has changed everything with his humming […]
Circus Mirandus
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 […]
The White Lotus
The White Lotus by Aditi Krishnakumar is a gripping work of historical fiction that, like the best kinds of stories, stays with you and makes you think. Layered and sensitive, it is perfectly paced, immersing you in the life and times of a village in south India in the early 20th century. Fourteen-year-old Arali is […]
An Absence of Squirrels
A couple of years ago, I finally read The Giver, a book that students at my writing programme recommended to me time and again when we were studying dystopia, mythopoeia, fantasy … almost anything, in fact. And that’s the book that kept coming to mind as I read Aparna Kapur’s An Absence of Squirrels. An […]
Vincent Can’t Go
We all know what it’s like not to be allowed to go somewhere we really want to go. Birthday party. Sleepover. Movie. Dinner. In Vincent’s case, though, it’s been months since he’s been allowed anywhere. Ever since his father was sent to America, his mother doesn’t allow him to do tiny things he used to […]
I Am Quiet: A Story for the Introvert in All of Us
How could I not read a book with a title like this? Anyone who knows me knows that I’m happiest in my own company. If I spend time with people, I need to unwind; I need my quiet time. Yet, as a child, I was noisy and talkative, unlike Emile, the protagonist of I Am […]
Agalya in the Spotlight
When I learned that Divya Anand had a new book out, I knew I had to read it. I loved Misfit Madhu. I’ve read it with my book club twice, and the children enjoyed it each time! Agalya in the Spotlight is just as breezy a read. I was invested in the characters from the […]
Manvinder’s Medu Vada
Manvinder’s Medu Vada by Riddhi Maniar Doda and Vinayak Varma had me chuckling at each page! I could completely identify with Manvinder, who refuses to eat something that doesn’t look like it’s supposed to look! As a child, I had a problem with the same food–vadas. How could it be a real vada if it […]
Everything Changes And That’s Ok
How do you read picture books? Do you pause as you turn each page, just to admire the pictures? Or do you race through the story and then come back to the pictures to take them in slowly? For me, it depends on the book, but with Everything Changes And That’s Ok, I found myself […]
Unplugged
Jett is rich, spoiled, and used to getting his own way. When he takes his mischief-making too far, however, his father packs him off to a place called Oasis where he must live a life completely screen-free. Jett is incredulous. What kind of place is this, where mobile phones are surrendered before you enter? Who […]
Until the Road Ends
What was it like for animals during the war? How did people have the heart to put them down? Food was scarce and feeding a pet was a “waste” of resources. Until the Road Ends is the story of three animals that survive thanks to a combination of bravery and sheer good luck. It’s the […]
Dear Mr. Henshaw
I’ve said this dozens of times: I love epistolary novels. I made a video about a few favourites for World Post Day 2021, I love doing letter-writing activities at workshops, and I’ve written an epistolary novel of my own. When we read Dear Mr. Henshaw for the first time at my book club, I knew […]
Roop and the River Crossing
What was the Partition? What ripples do we see today, and how do people in power continue to exploit communal politics? These are difficult questions that one often wonders about whether to discuss with children. In some ways, books that talk about our history help, books like Roop and the River Crossing. Roop and the […]
Wrestling Day
When I went for the White Owl Literature Festival in Nagaland a few months ago, I attended part of an event that the author Theyiesinuo Keditsu conducted on her book, Wrestling Day. She spoke about how traffic piles up on Wrestling Day. People park everywhere, and that’s something that’s perfectly acceptable on that one day […]