Of writers and dreams - a book review

Last year, we had been to Mussoorie during the Christmas vacation, and A had looked forward to meeting one of her favourite (OK, one of my favourite too) writers Ruskin Bond. She had made a booklet of a few of her own stories. We wanted to meet him and present him with this booklet, and get our favourite books ( The Blue Umbrella for A and A Flight of Pigeons for me) signed. Unfortunately, he was out of town, and was to return only after we left Mussoorie. So we requested Mr Arora, who owns a bookstore where Ruskin Bond regularly signed books for his readers, to hand over the booklet to him to sign, and gave him our address. We were extremely disappointed on not being able to meet him in person, but there was nothing we could do about that!

Imagine our delight when, after a few weeks, an envelope arrived at our home, containing the booklet, duly signed by Mr Bond, with a few encouraging words from him. Her book, (never mind that it was an unpublished, handwritten one) signed by Ruskin Bond!

So when I read about Tulika's 'Advaita The Writer', I had to pick it up for A.

Pic courtesy tulikabooks.com

Advaita The Writer
Written by Ken Spillman
Illustrated by Soumya Menon
Published by Tulika books
Age 10+

A 13 yr old, Advaita begins school at the prestigious Dunham Girls' School, a residential school in Dehradun, far away from her home and family in New Delhi. A shy person, she finds herself struggling to fit in. Her nearest room-mate is a gadget freak hooked to her ipod, who "could only listen to something if it came through earphones."

The school library is a haven, however. An avid reader, who dreams of becoming a writer one day, Advaita feasts on the books, especially those by her favourite writer, Ruskin Bond. She has no idea that he lives at a stone's throw, just half-an-hour away, at Mussoorie.

"Ruskin Bond was a name as large in her consciousness as Gandhiji, Lutyens and Enid Blyton, and she had assumed that all such names belonged to the dead."

Well, no. He was a living legend, and moreover, someone who she could easily get to meet. So Mrs Kendall, her teacher, and Advaita plan a visit to Cambridge Book Depot, owned by Mr Arora, where Ruskin Bond sat every Saturday afternoon to sign books for his readers.

Does Advaita meet Ruskin Bond? How does she become 'Advaita the writer'?

We get a peek into Advaita's delightful, if a bit sarcastic sense of humour through her letters, in which we see her school life through her eyes. "Apparently, most of the girls here have adapted to survival without breathing - it has something to do with the number of years they spend in cold rarified air. This makes them thoroughly cold, inside and out...You will be pleased to know that I have climbed steadily up the evolutionary scale and that I am striving to reduce my dependence on air."!!

Black-and-white illustrations by Soumya Menon, who has illustrated many books by Tulika, are a treat - they stress on the fact that Advaita the writer is primarily a reader - she is never seen without a book in her hand, lost to the world, busy reading, and sometimes writing!

Ken Spillman has added an afterword in which he tells us about his inspiration for this book, a chance discussion with the awardwinning writer, Advaita Kala. He also introduces us to the delightful Ruskin Bond, a resource for those who have not encountered his work yet, who can see for themselves exactly what the pull is for Advaita and many others. There is a handy list of books for children by Mr Bond from which one may choose.

A loved this book- a fast read- and was smiling as she realised how like Advaita she is...the same avid reading of books, the same shyness with new people and places, the same urge to write, the same incomprehension of gadget-crazy friends! And the same experience, albeit with a difference, about meeting Ruskin Bond!

I picked this book up at the Bangalore book fair this year, the last copy that the stall had. A was doubly delighted, because Ken Spillman had visited her school just a few days previously, had had an open discussion about his books with all the students, and had promised to reply to any mails that the children wrote to him.

I suppose my little reader-writer is thinking seriously about doing just that!

Review- On My Honor

Pic courtesy goodreads.com

On My Honor
Written by Marion Dane Bauer
Published by Yearling books, an imprint of Random House Children's books.
Ages: 8-12, 12+

Peer pressure. Everyone faces it, children more so. It looms large in their small world, often leading to literally life-and-death situations.

Twelve year old Joel and Tony are 'best friends', very different in temperament, often squabbling and bickering, but inseparable.

Tony- exuberant, fun-loving, risk-taking, with a devil-may-care attitude. Joel, the more cautious of the two, introspecting, sensitive to undercurrents in a situation, a foil for Tony.

On the way to a cliff-climbing trip, (which Joel had earlier tried to wriggle out of, hoping his father would not give him permission to go), the irrepressible Tony had decided he wanted to go swimming in the river instead. The turbulant, treacherous Vermillion river, known for its rapids. Inspite of having promised his father 'on his honor', that he would not do anything dangerous, Joel falls for the bait when Tony accuses him of being over-cautious.

"Sometimes, Bates, you sound just like your old man."
Joel could feel the heat flooding his face. "What's wrong with that?"
" 'Be careful in that tree, son,' " Tony mimicked, " 'you might get hurt. Watch Bobby when he crosses the street. Those drivers never pay any--' "
Joel had been moving closer to Tony as he spoke, and now he gave him a hard shove.

Tony keeps needling Joel, driven by bravado and dare-devilry, goading him to challenge Tony to a swimming race to a sandbar a hundred yards away. With terrible consequences.

Peer pressure. Wanting to fit in. Misplaced confidence. A sense of being indestructible. A devil-may-care attitude. Inability to lose face. Unwillingness to be perceived as a 'coward' when being just sensible and careful. A recipe for disaster?

Marion Dane Bauer has written a fast-paced, racy, but sensitively told story based on a real incident that happenned in the town where she grew up, at the very same place as described in the book. A very short, 90 page book that is very hard-hitting.

Bauer's potrayal of Joel's effort to get out of what is very clearly a fool-hardy venture, without losing face- first hoping that his father would not give his permission, then trying to make Tony see sense is very realistic. It happens ever so often in our own kids' peer-group. The disaster comes on unexpectedly, chillingly, with everything else seemingly the same, unchanged.

The potrayal of Joel's survivor guilt is heart-wrenching. The disbelief, denial, anger, dissociation, grief, a desire to hide, not face the parents, an obsessive 'washing-off of the stench of the river', are powerfully written. It helps, that his father is understanding, trying to help him let go of the paralysing, mind-numbing grief.

The wracking sobs flowed out of him like water.
His father held him for a long time, saying nothing, until Joel's tears came without sound and his breaths were quivering gasps. Even then, his father held him.
"Do you believe in heaven?" he asked at last. "Do you believe Tony's gone there?"
"I don't suppose anybody knows," his father answered gently, "what happens after...I believe there's something about life that goes on. It seems too good to end in a river."

It is a Newbery Honor winner, 1987, and the William Allen White Childrens' book award winner, 1989. A wonderfully written book, that chills me on each reading. Given a thumbs-up by A.

Crossposted at Bookreviews and Saffrontree.

Making sense of disasters

Natural disasters, with their magnitude of destruction, can be mind-boggling to children who can be horrified, and unable to make sense of them. Heck, we grownups cannot make any sense of them! It does help, however, to understand them, and deal with the unease they cause, (even when not directly affected) in a child sensitive to such things, if a parent can sit down and explain things to them. More so if a book dealing with the disaster can be used to explain things. It is so much easier to understand through empathising with kids of a similar age going through with and dealing with a similar situation.

There are some books that could be used for talking about the tsunami in Japan. One such is 'My Friend, the Sea' written by Sandhya Rao, published by Tulika books. This was written after the 2004 tsunami that affected the eastern coast of India.

Another beautiful book, is 'The Big Wave'.  I read this book a while ago, but it has stayed with me, and it is currently at the top of my mind. A children's book by the Pulitzer prize winner for her book 'The Good Earth', Pearl S. Buck, also a Nobel prize winner, literature, in 1938. She was the daughter of missionary parents, and was born in China, spending most of her childhood and youth in China and Japan.

Pic courtesy flipkart

THE BIG WAVE
Written by Pearl S. Buck
Published by HarperCollins
Ages 9-12 yrs

Jiya and Kino were friends who lived in Japan. Kino was a farmer's son, and lived on a farm high up the slope of a mountain. A mountain, moreover, that was a volcano a very long, long time ago. His father always told him that they would be in danger if the volcano ever erupted again.

From his home, he could look down upon the big, blue ocean, near which was a fishing village where his friend Jiya, the son of a fisherman lived. Jiya had a house very near the sea, but had no window looking out to the sea. Kino could not understand this, as the ocean seemed very beautiful to him. Also, the fishermen are dependent on the sea for their very livelihood. Jiya however, does not agree with him, and tells him that his father says that the ocean is a grave danger.

Neither boy can quite understand the other's outlook. Until one day, an undersea volcano erupts and triggers off a massive tsunami- the big wave.

What happens next? How do both Jiya and Kino deal with their loss?

A wonderfully written book for young readers, which answers many questions that might occur to them about the tsunami and disasters in general. Pearl S. Buck's distinctive style is apparent even in this children's book, and we get a wonderful sense of atmosphere, learning a lot about the people that she knows so much about. In the boys' coming to terms with and dealing with the calamity, we learn a lot about this terrible force of nature that can annihilate in seconds.

Winner of the 'Child Study Association's Children's Book Award'.

Crossposted on Saffrontree.