Congratulations to Mitali Perkins whose wonderful Tiger Boy (Charlesbridge, 2015 / Duckbill Books, 2015) has garnered another award (well, I said it should win plenty in … Continue reading ...
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Congratulations to Mitali Perkins whose wonderful Tiger Boy (Charlesbridge, 2015 / Duckbill Books, 2015) has garnered another award (well, I said it should win plenty in … Continue reading ...
Add a Comment
Keeping Corner Kashmira Sheth
Remember The Edge of the Forest? I still have a few reviews that ran in that wonderful magazine that I'm reprinting here...
Leela was engaged at the age of two and married at the age of nine. Next year, when she turns thirteen, she will celebrate her anu and move into her husband’s house. Leela’s excited for her anu but when her husband is suddenly killed, everything changes.
Following Brahmin custom, Leela is forced to shave her hair, smash her bangles, and wear muddy brown saris. She will be unable to remarry and must keep corner—stay in the house—for a full year. Leela’s family is devastated by her loss and their grief permeates the household, making it impossible for Leela to imagine any sort of future.
But India is changing. Gandhi is leading the people to stand up to the English. Leela wonders how a small, old man in a dhoti can change the white men who sit so straight on their horses, but Gandhi is. Confined to the house, Leela is still caught in a struggle between the old and new as India stands on the brink of liberation—both from the English and from tradition.
Based on the true story of her great-aunt, Sheth paints a lush, vibrant picture of Indian home life. Leela’s story moves with the weather and seasons as she marks off her time before being allowed outside. Moving and honest, Leela’s tale of drawing inspiration from Gandhi to find agency in her own life is sure to strike readers and linger long after the last page.
ARC Provided by... a coworker, who picked it up at ALA (maybe? this ran back in 2007-- I don't quite remember)
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Happy 10th Birthday PaperTigers!
I’ve been blessed to be a part of the PaperTigers’ team since December 2006 when I took on the role of Eventful World Coordinator just prior to the launch of the PaperTigers blog. As the years passed and PaperTigers continued to grow, evolve and expand (most noticeably with the launch of our Spirit of PaperTigers Book Sets and Outreach Program) my role within the organization changed too. In 2010 I was offered the job of Associate Editor and since then have worked closely alongside our wonderful and very talented editor Marjorie Coughlan to produce PaperTigers’ three components: the website, the blog and the Outreach site .
I consider myself so lucky to be doing a job that I love in a field that I love! Children’s literature has always been my passion and during my years with PaperTigers I’ve not been the only one in my family to benefit from the pile of books that just have to be read for work. (Insert a big smiley face here because really…how wonderful is it to have to read books!) When I started working at PaperTigers my children were in elementary school so naturally we focused a lot of our reading time at home on children’s and junior books. However as PaperTigers and my kids grew I found myself developing more and more interest in Young Adult books. Now I have to say that although children’s picture books will always hold a very special place in my heart , Young Adult books tug strongly at my heart too! So when it came time to do a Top 10 list for PaperTigers’ anniversary celebration, it only made sense for me to select my favorite Young Adult books. Drum roll please….in random order I present:
1. Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins (Delacorte Press, 2009)
When her unemployed father leaves India to look for work in America, Asha, her mother and sister move in with family in Calcutta. When news comes that her father is accidentally killed in America and her family’s financial difficulties intensify, Asha makes a heartwrenching, secret decision that solves many problems and creates others.
2. Borderline by Allan Stratton (Harper Collins Children’s Books, 2010)
When Sami catches his father in a lie, he gets suspicious as does the FBI who descend on his home, and Sami’s family (the only Muslims in the neighbourhood) becomes the center of an international terrorist investigation.
3. Keeping Corner by Kashmira Sheth (Hyperion Books for Children , 2008)
12-year-old Leela’s husband unexpectedly dies and custom requires her confinement at home for a year, “keeping corner.” Prohibited from ever remarrying, Leela faces a barren future: however, her brother has the courage to buck tradition and hire a tutor to educate her. This powerful and enchanting novel juxtaposes Leela’s journey to self-determination with the parallel struggle of her family and community to follow Gandhi on the road to independence from British rule.
4. I am a Taxi by Deborah Ellis (Groundwood Books, 2006)
12-year-old Diego is deep in the Bolivian jungle, working as a virtual slave in an illegal cocaine operation. As his situation becomes more and more dangerous, he knows he must take a terrible risk if he ever wants to see his family again. As well as being a great read, I am a Taxi packs in a store of information about Bolivia and the exploitation of children in the drug-trade, and raises polemics about the growth of the coca plant.
5. Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai (Harper Collins, 2011)
During the Vietnam War Hà and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, Hà discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape . . . and the strength of her very own family.
6. Karma by Cathy Ostlere
On October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi is gunned down by two Sikh bodyguards. The murder sparks riots in Delhi and for three days Sikh families are targeted and killed in retribution for the Prime Minister’s death. It is into this chaos that fifteen-year-old Maya and her Sikh father, Amar, arrive from their home in Canada. India’s political instability is the backdrop and catalyst for Maya’s awakening to the world. Karma is the story of how a young woman, straddling two cultures and enduring personal loss, learns forgiveness, acceptance and love.
7. Orchards by Holly Thompson
After a bullied classmate commits suicide, Kana Goldberg – a half-Japanese, half-Jewish American- is sent to her family’s home in Japan for the summer. Kana wasn’t the bully, not exactly, but she didn’t do anything to stop what happened, either. As Kana begins to process the pain and guilt she feels, news from home sends her world spinning out of orbit all over again.
8. Tall Story by Candy Gourlay (David Fickling Books, 2010)
Andi hasn’t seen her brother for eight years and when he steps off the plane from the Philippines, she cannot believe her eyes. He’s tall. EIGHT FOOT TALL. But Bernardo is not what he seems. Bernardo is a hero, Bernardo works miracles, and Bernardo has an amazing story to tell. In a novel packed with quirkiness and humor, Gourlay explores a touching sibling relationship and the clash of two very different cultures.
9. Under the Mesquite by Guadalupe Garcia McCall (Lee and Low Books, 2011)
As the oldest of eight siblings, Lupita is used to taking the lead—and staying busy behind the scenes to help keep everyone together. But when she discovers Mami has been diagnosed with cancer, Lupita is terrified by the possibility of losing her mother, the anchor of her close-knit Mexican American family. Suddenly Lupita must face a whole new set of challenges, with new roles to play, and no one is handing her the script.
10. Wanting Mor by Rukhsana Khan (Groundwood Books, 2009)
Set in war-torn Afghanistan, post-Taliban and just after the American invasion in 2001, Wanting Mor brings a ravaged landscape to life and portrays the effects of war on civilians caught up in conflict, especially on children. Based on a true story about a girl who ended up in one of the orphanages Rukhsana sponsors in Afghanistan through the royalties of her book The Roses in My Carpets.
Author Kashmira Sheth has written two beautiful picture-books that focus on children’s realtionship with their grandparents: My Dadima Wears a Sari and Monsoon Afternoon (Peachtree Publishers 2007 and 2008). They are both illustrated by Yoshiko Jaeggi and, in fact, work together as a balanced pair, since My Dadima Wears a Sari is about a littel girl Rupa and her grandmother, who shows her a myriad of imaginative uses for a sari beyond simply wearing it; and Monsoon Afternoon tells the story of a little boy who is able to rely on his Dadaji out of all his family to play with him under the monsoon. The books also highlight the importance for children of not only being able to trust unquestionably in that special gift of grandparents to devote time to their grandchildren without deadlines or chores getting in the way, but also to pass on those small details of a personal family history that provide roots and grounding for a child.
We are delighted to welcome Kashmira to the Papertigers blog as part of our Authors Remember their Grandparents series. You can also read our 2010 interview with Kashmira and visit her website to find out about all her books.
WaterfallI called my grandfather the same name as my mother called him, Bapuji. Bapuji means father. I don’t know why I didn’t call him Dadaji. It could be because I had a great grandfather whom I called Dadaji. I lived with my grandparents and great grandfather until I was eight so I have many wonderful memories of them.
One of my earliest memories with Bapuji never fails to bring a smile to my face. I must have been six or seven years old when we went to visit a temple in a town called Gadhda, located on Ghalo River. After visiting the temple, we went to Ghalo River. I don’t remember what month it was, but as grass, shrubs, and trees around the river were lush and thick, it might have been monsoon season or just after.
We walked along the banks until we came to a small waterfall. My grandparents, my uncle, cousins, and my mom all took a dip in the water. I, who had never had a shower, but had only taken baths with a bucket of water, was thrilled by the misty spray. I walked closer to the waterfall. Suddenly, Bapuji scooped me up. With his outstretched hands he placed me on a stone ledge. It was as if he had offered me to the waterfall!
On the ledge the water was more than a mist now. It was a powerful shower that soaked me. I was excited and scared at the same time. He took me back to the river bank and I begged, “Farithi, again.”
He did it again and again.
I don’t remember anything else about that trip—just his placing me under the waterfall, my begging for more, and his complying.
Bapuji died a long time ago. Often, when I think of him, I close my eyes. Time melts away and I become a young girl under the waterfall again. When I do that, it is not only that memory but also his love that showers me.
Kashmira Sheth
Jacket description:
"For eleven-year-old Gopal and his family, life in their rural Indian village is over: We stay, we starve, his baba has warned. With the darkness of night as cover, they flee to the big city of Mumbai in hopes of finding work and a brighter future. Gopal is eager to help support his struggling family until school starts, so when a stranger approaches him with the promise of a factory job, he jumps at the offer.
But Gopal has been deceived. There is no factory, just a small, stuffy sweatshop where he and five other boys are forced to make beaded frames for no money and little food. The boys are forbidden to talk or even to call one another by their real names. In this atmosphere of distrust and isolation, locked in a rundown building in an unknown part of the city, Gopal despairs of ever seeing his family again.
But late one night, when Gopal decides to share kahanis, or stories, he realizes that storytelling might be the boys' key to holding on to their sense of self and their hope for any kind of future. If he can make them feel more like brothers than enemies, their lives will be more bearable in the shop—and they might even find a way to escape"
I don't think there could ever be too many books written on the subject of child slavery. We need to make everyone aware of this horrific travesty that is happening all over the world, including our children. Author Kashmira Sheth takes a very troubling and traumatic subject and delivers it gracefully and will tact, leaving out graphic language or imagery and simply introducing events that some children really do go through.
The book contains and enthralling story, with a brilliant main character. I thought the overall book was a bit long, being slow in a couple of places, but for the most part completely had my attention and had me writing down names of kids I would recommend this to as soon as it hits shelves later on this month.
Read it aloud to your class, to your family, or just read it to yourself. Gopal's story is wonderfully told, yet heartbreaking.
Oooh and if you haven't before, pick of Sheth's Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet. It was published several years ago and I read it for a Children's Lit class, loving it.
Boys Without Names
Kashmira Sheth
320 pages
Middle Grade fiction
Balzer + Bray
9780061857607
January 2010
Review copy received from publisher
To learn more, or to purchase, click on the book cover above to link to Amazon. I am an Associate and will receive a small commission for your purchase. Thanks!
Awesome! Inspiring! So many books, so many authors, so little time!
Neil Gaiman (!) and me. The highlight of the weekend was meeting him, getting my copy of The Graveyard Book signed and hearing his Newbery speech in person. Wow.
Me and Tammi Sauer with her new picture book, Chicken Dance. Check out this youtube
Great review. Have you ever read Iqbal? This one is excellent and based on true events.
Thank you sooooo much for reviewing this! I hadn't heard of it, but I need to get it. I'm glad it was handled in a way middlge schoolers (or anyone for that matter) can handle the topic but not have it so graphic. Thank you again for this!
I wonder if child slavery is becoming the 'new holocaust' - there suddenly seem to be a lot of books coming out on the subject, which is GREAT, but a tiny part of my brain worries that oversaturation can lead to anesthesation. Sometimes you get teens who go on a steady diet of Holocaust books, for example, and then at the end fail to be shocked by the same things happening elsewhere, because it has become so familiar to them.
At any rate, I will be ordering this one, because I want to read it if nothing else:)
This is a great review, and the book sounds really interesting. I think its important for novels to be written about topics such as these. Sometimes we need reminding of how lucky we are.