I just looked back at the post where I listed my favourite young adult books from 2021. When I wrote that, I resolved to read more YA in 2022. And that didn't happen. In fact, I read fewer. Just one of the three books on this list is a YA book; the other two would be classified better as late middle-grade. The reason I include them here rather than on my MG list is that I know I would have enjoyed them more as a young adult than as a middle-grader! Clap When You LandI love it when I chance upon a book that I've never heard of and love it! I was scrolling through recommended reads on Kindle Unlimited, and I came across Clap When You Land. It had nearly 5,000 ratings. That was all I looked at before I downloaded and read it.And I loved it. Verse novels, when well done, are brilliant. I love their sparseness - no beating around the bush, no unnecessary details, just … [Read more...]
Clap When You Land
A YA verse novel told from two points of view? Yes, please. And one with a secret at its core? Always. Clap When You Land was a stunning read, one that made my heart ache even as I rejoiced with all the women in the story who emerged triumphant, and stronger than ever.Yahaira, who lives in New York City, knows her father's secret. But she thinks she needs to keep it from her mother.And Camino, who lives in the Dominican Republic, knows nothing. She does not know that her father does not live in the United States only for work. He has a family there - another wife and another daughter.When he dies in an air crash, all the secrets come tumbling out. How can Camino accept a sister, who monopolised her father right through the year? How can she come to terms with the huge wealth divide between her father's two families? And worst of all, how is it that she is the only one who never … [Read more...]
My Favourite Young Adult Books from 2021
I didn't read very many young adult books in 2021, and several that I did read proved to be disappointing. With some, I know I was probably being unfair because I have high expectations of authors I've read and loved. I left a number of books unfinished; when there are so many books out there waiting to be read, why plough through books I have to push myself to read? Five YA books stood out to me, though, and I can't help seeing both how similar they are and how very different. Postbox Kashmir This is probably the first time a work of nonfiction features on a list of my top reads! Postbox Kashmir was not a quick read, no. However, for all readers, I think some books are just worth reading, however slowly you need to read them. With Postbox Kashmir, there was so much for me to process that I wanted to take my time over it. A balanced, objective story … [Read more...]
Magic Flutes
I love giving books away. I don't hold with the idea that if you have too many books, you need a new shelf. But on the other hand, I do think that there are books for keeps, comfort reads want to go back to and sob over.Eva Ibbotson's Magic Flutes is one of those. I read it in 2018 and loved it (even though it didn't make it to my top ten list), but rereading always brings a different kind of joy. Often, it's only when I reread that I look at the book as a writer. What draws me in? What captures my heart? Over and over again, I realise that it's setting and character. They go together, and they're far more important to me than plot.Set in Vienna just after the first World War, Magic Flutes tells the story of young Tessa, a princess who is a determined Republican. She believes that art and music are universal equalisers. They are what will help abolish titles and aristocracy, … [Read more...]
Postbox Kashmir
From the moment I came across Postbox Kashmir by Divya Arya, I knew I wanted to read it. The title, the cover and the subtitle - 'Two Lives in Letters' - everything appealed to me. I knew little about the book, and the little I did know was gleaned from random social media posts. Soon after I started reading it, I knew that it was a book for keeps.We're inundated with information. Sometimes, with a mild sense of panic, I realise that details of events I've quickly researched have become hazy again. For instance, I knew about the exodus of Kashmiri pundits, but vaguely. When I read Paro Anand's Nomad's Land, I read up about the history of Kashmir once more, but my research was cursory at best. Dates and details slip by, especially when we don't contextualise facts. What was happening in Kashmir when the Babri Masjid was demolished? Did the protests at Shaheen Bagh have any effect on … [Read more...]
Neha and the Nose
Why did I not read this book earlier? It's such a fun book, so witty and well written! I love it!Neha and the Nose are teen detectives. And they're not just your regular detectives - they're so good that even the principal calls on them when there's investigation required. Of course, "the Nose" is something that Neha just calls her friend Johan in her head, but one that's as apt as it gets because it's the Nose that's really her partner. Johan, who possesses the Nose, is just another boy, annoyingly good at everything he does. More annoyingly, he's a teen at the mercy of his hormones. I can practically see Neha rolling her eyes!But the Nose makes Johan special. He can sniff out anything, from perfume to the nuances of agarbatti. Subtleties don't escape him. What a marvel that organ of his is!The Nose is wacky, fun and brilliantly imaginative, but more, I love Neha! Her voice … [Read more...]
Strong as Fire, Fierce as Flame
Ahimsa by Supriya Kelkar left its mark on me. But Strong as Fire, Fierce as Flame was something else altogether. I devoured the book. Each chapter made me read just one more chapter, as compelling as the previous one.Meera is an unlikely protagonist, one who seems a far cry from the typical feisty girl one expects at the centre of a story. The book begins with Meera up in a tree, trying to listen in while her father teaches village boys. She is not allowed there. In fact, she was once rapped on her knuckles for being where she was not permitted. As I read that part, I knew that Meera would be my fiery, determined, brave young protagonist. I was wrong. Meera is none of that. She does what she is told. She follows instructions. She knows she is supposed to obey. In some ways, she is like her mother, who speaks of women being as strong as fire and as fierce as flame, but cannot live … [Read more...]
Mirror, Mirror
Fat shaming. It's so rooted in society and family that it often goes unnoticed. Sometimes, it wears the garb of concern - oh, you've put on so much weight; is everything okay? At other times, it's downright cruel.Ananya, the protagonist of Mirror, Mirror, faces the second kind. The words she hears echo through her head, making her recoil with disgust when she looks at herself in the mirror. Miss Piggy. Fat cow. How did she never notice how fat and ugly she was? How could she have thought it was okay?Mirror Mirror was pacy from start to end. That is something I love about Andaleeb Wajid's writing: her books make you keep turning the pages, not noticing when one chapter ends and another begins. I found that with When She Went Away, which I read three years ago, and then again with Mirror, Mirror. While fat-shaming forms the centre of the story, the narrative steers away from … [Read more...]
Queen of Fire
When I started reading Queen of Fire, I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy it. I expected to read something new and captivating, even though I knew that the protagonist was the rani of Jhansi. But all the opening scenes were familiar to me. We've studied the history of the independence movement in India in such excruciating detail that there is no way I can forget about the revolt of 1857, the story of Mangal Pandey, the Doctrine of Lapse, or the tale of the cartridges greased with the fat of cows and pigs.This made Queen of Fire completely different from the other two books in this series. I knew nothing about Didda before reading Queen of Ice, and I had not heard of Queen Prithvimahadevi until I read Queen of Earth. Would Queen of Fire be completely familiar?The answer was no. If anything, I think Queen of Fire is the most powerful of the three books. Once I got sucked into … [Read more...]
Bena’s Summer
Poetic. That's the first word that comes to mind when I think of Bena's Summer. It's a slow, almost languorous read, evoking the in which summer in a small town stretches before us. And this summer, we see through eight-year-old Bena's eyes. Bena, who is a precious, precocious child, a mix of childlike innocence and equally childlike wisdom.Bena is short for Benazir. She is innocent, generous, and, in the way children sometimes are, cruel. What makes her special, though, is her courage. Her moral compass points true, and she knows when she must stand up for those who are not as strong as she is. She also knows when she is in the wrong and with all the generosity of her spirit, she reaches out to beg for forgiveness.With Bena, the reader experiences love that almost hurts. We see life through her eyes; we see her courage, her indomitable spirit, and the complexity of her family. … [Read more...]