I’ve been meaning to read The Piano by Nandita Basu for a long time. I read and loved Rain Must Fall, and although Starry, Starry Night didn’t entirely work for me, I loved the idea and the artwork. The Piano is another lovely graphic novel, a sweeping story that takes us from 1912 to 2012 […]
Dear Author, You Are Wrong
Varsha Varghese’s Dear Author, You Are Wrong is another book I had the chance to read as a manuscript a few years ago when it was submitted for the Scholastic Asian Book Award 2023. It won the award—and deservedly so! It is a deceptively simple read, one that addresses a range of social issues with […]
The Case of the Mysterious Witches
What a powerful, important book! I haven’t read the first two M4 mysteries, but I have read–and admired–some of Mallika Ravikumar’s other work. My first was the award-winning The District Cup, which I loved. More recently, I read The Battle for Baramulla, and I commented on how meticulously researched it is. That’s what makes The […]
A Patch of Sun, A Patch of Shade
A Patch of Sun, A Patch of Shade is an endearing story, one that I read for the first time as a manuscript that was shortlisted for the Scholastic Asian Book Award 2023, when I served as chief judge. I was curious to read it again, curious to see how the story had grown and […]
A Drop of Golden Sun
I remember reading Five Children on the Western Front several years ago, and if I remember right, I enjoyed it. The idea of writing about characters I had encountered in another book was fascinating, and perhaps that was what drew me into the book in the first place. With A Drop of Golden Sun, I […]
Doubles: Peace Pulao/The Forbidden Snacks Society
After Flipped, which you can read both ways, HarperCollins brings you Doubles–two stories written by two authors, based on one theme–food. Quite apart from the joy of the format, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the stories! Peace Pulao Peace Pulao by Vibha Batra is set in the fictitious city of Pasinabad. It tells an age-old story […]
Merci Suárez Changes Gears
Merci is the only one in her class who lives with her whole family. Grandparents, parents, brother, cousins, aunt–they all live together. They aren’t poor, perhaps, but they definitely don’t go vacationing in fancy places, unlike her classmate, the popular Edna. Almost against her will, though, Merci wants Edna to like her. She wants to […]
No Matter the Distance
No Matter the Distance by Cindy Baldwin left me with such a mix of emotions! I almost didn’t finish the book because the middle was a little draggy. But verse tends to keep me reading, and the burgeoning relationship between a girl and a dolphin was promising, so I persevered … and I really liked […]
The Battle for Baramulla
The Battle for Baramulla, the latest book in the Songs of Freedom series takes us to 1947 Kashmir. The maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir wants his kingdom to remain independent. But when there are attacks from the northwest frontier, is staying independent really an option? The Battle for Baramulla begins slowly. I took a while […]
A Girl, a Tiger and a Very Strange Story
A Girl, a Tiger and a Very Strange Story begins slowly. We see Junglee, a wild child. She is faster than all the others, and she can’t sit still—except when the stillness comes over her. As I turned the first few pages, I wondered where the book would take me. Once I got into Junglee’s […]
Sneaker Paati
Kittu is delighted to discover that he has a cool Paati, the kind he can boast about! She does headstands, and is even willing to teach him to do them! Soon enough, Kittu discovers that his Sneaker Paati, aka Shobha Attai, can do more than just headstands. Maybe she’ll be his new confidante and solve […]
Full Cicada Moon
“Where are you from?” Sometimes, this feels like such an innocuous question. But often, it isn’t. For Mimi Yoshiko Oliver, growing up in 1969 Vermont, it feels like a particularly loaded question because her mother is Japanese and her father is African-American. She is American, but she doesn’t “look” it. Full Cicada Moon is a […]
Mules that Fall from the Sky
How does one write about a book like Mules that Fall from the Sky? As adults, we often feel the need to shelter children from anything disturbing or difficult. I wonder, though, whether it’s because we don’t want to think about these things, rather than for any other reason. Mules that Fall from the Sky […]
October, October
We live in the woods and we are wild. That’s what eleven-year-old October says, over and over, about her father and her. The woman who is her mother is not like them. She isn’t wild. She left them in the forest, choosing to go closer to civilisation and live with human comforts. And October cannot […]
Willodeen
Screechers. Hummingbears. Peacock snails. I’m always amazed when writers seem to effortlessly bring a fantastical world to life, and Katherine Applegate is a master at it. I came across it first in Crenshaw (one of the top 5 chapter books I read in 2020); Willodeen left me awestruck. Willodeen plays out in a world very much like […]
Lion of the Sky
I love historical fiction, and I love novels in verse. A middle-grade work of historical fiction in verse? I knew I wanted to read it. And Lion of the Sky by Ritu Hemnani didn’t disappoint. Set in Sindh in August 1947, Lion of the Sky tells the story of Raj and his family, who are […]
If Elephants Could Talk
Temple elephants. I’ve always hated the fact that they exist. I remember during a dance tour once, when everyone lined up to be blessed by the elephant. I stayed away. And like Meenakshi in If Elephants Could Talk, I didn’t say a thing. I didn’t know how to form my words or what to say. […]
Gossamer
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 […]