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, […]
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, […]
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 […]
A Demon in Dandi
We all know about the infamous salt tax and the march to Dandi. What would the people of Dandi have felt at the time? Were people even aware of this […]
Some Places More than Others
Finding your roots can be such a complicated thing. Amara has never visited New York City, where her father grew up, and there’s nothing she wants more than to go […]
The Double Life of Danny Day
The Double Life of Danny Day by Mike Thayer is such an unusual book! I haven’t read anything quite like it ever before, and I loved it! Danny Day is […]
The Bridge Home
Eleven-year-old Viji has had enough. Her mother might believe that her father is repentant and will stop abusing her. But when he hits Viji and Rukku, she makes a decision. […]
The Letter with the Golden Stamp
The Letter with the Golden Stamp by Onjali Q. Raúf is such a heartwarming story! As a lover of letters (psst: my first novel in letters, The Wall Friends Club, […]
Echo
Do you ever read the author’s note and acknowledgements? I love reading them! For example, at the end of Echo, author Pam Muñoz Ryan writes: It was [in the German […]
Melissa
I’ve been meaning to read Melissa for a while, and more so since I read Rick some time ago. It’s an important book for young readers, one that I found […]
Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen!
What a lovely, lovely book! I don’t know anything about baseball. I’ve seen what the bat looks like, and I’ve heard random terms like ‘home run’ and ‘strike’, but that’s […]
Top 5 Young Adult Books – 2024
I finally read a few more young adult books last year, so I don’t have to combine my late middle-grade and young adult books! I loved all these books, three […]
Top 10 Middle Grade Books – 2024
I read many, many middle grade books last year, but somehow just one Indian book stands out this time! Here are my top ten, in no particular order. I highly […]
The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle
Diaphoresis and dyslexia. Mason Buttle has both, and both trouble him. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg of his troubles. His best friend Benny Kilmartin is dead. His […]
The One and Only Ruby
Is there any child who doesn’t love elephants? Magnificent African elephants with their enormous tusks, the gentler-looking Asian elephants with their smaller ears—I loved them all. So, of course I […]
The One and Only Bob
Katherine Applegate’s books are a treasure. Recently, I reread The One and Only Bob, a lovely book featuring an unforgettable character. About a month ago, I reviewed Odder, and I […]
Rick
I’ve been reading about Melissa and Rick on so many book lists that I’ve had Alex Gino’s books on my (endless) TBR forever. I finally read Rick, and I realise […]
When You Trap a Tiger
What an unexpected book! Often, I don’t know much about books before I read them. Some books keep showing up on my social media. Others are recommended to me multiple […]
Amil and the After
Five years ago, I read The Night Diary. It’s a story that brings alive the bewilderment of children forced to move out of their homes during the Partition. But just […]
You Go First
I’ve been wanting to read Erin Entrada Kelly’s books for a while. As a writer of middle-grade, hers is a name that keeps popping up. I finally read You Go […]