The Year of the Weeds, by Siddhartha Sarma
This is a teenage novel about a boy growing up in an Adivasi community, being very much a part of the culture and watching as an ominous and exploitative future looms over them. The young hero is inevitably drawn into events he doesn’t fully understand, where the peaceful world of the Gonds clashes with the ruthless greed of the commercial world outside. For young readers in English, it opens a world that few would know anything about. But at the same time, they would identify with the universal issues of teenagers, on the threshold of adulthood yet immature and sometimes afraid.
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Twice Upon a Time, by Payal Kapadia; Illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat
Almost every modern book about girls depicts them as brave, tough and adventurous, while every old fairy tale shows them as helpless and pretty. This quirky story turns the princess trope upside down, while recognising that girls are smart and feisty but may like pink dresses and shiny things too! It gives the reader a chance to be who she is without feeling apologetic about it, and makes both the protagonists believable and validated. It’s an exciting adventure, taking us along on a roller coaster ride, leaving us dizzy and happy at the end.
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Macher Jhol, by Richa Jha; Illustrated by Sumanta Dey
This is a picture book that keeps you engrossed from the start, at any age. The murky and slightly mysterious illustrations draw you into young Gopu’s hazardous journey across a bustling city. Heart in mouth, you watch him travel in public transport, walk, run, climb, to reach his destination. You are not quite sure of where is he going, and why. Only at the end do you realise why his journey is made up of sounds, smells and precisely measured steps. It is an extraordinary glimpse into a world most of us know little about. A picture book for all ages
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A Hatful of Dragons, by Vikram Madan
While writers in other Indian languages write poetry for children comfortably and naturally, poetry for children in English is hard to come by, especially modern poems. This is a rare collection of poems on all sorts of weird and wacky themes like dinosaur eggs and pangolins that play music. The incidents are bizarre and yet somehow identifiable. The language is witty and beautiful, with a lot of care taken to craft the rhymes and rhythms. Unusual words surprise and delight you. These are poems to read aloud to young children, or silently to yourself, and enjoy the play of language and a parade of quirky creatures.
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Bipathu and the Very Big Dream, by Anita Nair; Illustrated by Parmita Mukherjee
Set in rural Kerala, this book features a cast of child and adult characters that raise and try to answer some essential questions: how to live with difference, how to remain curious, how to hold on to dreams even when the world seems to be set on destroying them. The book does not preach, simply tells a story while allowing the reader to think, and perhaps understand more deeply. There is a sense of rootedness, with Bipathu being very much a part of her community and surroundings, aware of her duties, and yet with a strong mind of her own. There are only a few illustrations, but they are detailed and evocative of the place and the characters.
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Zen, by Shabnam Minwalla
Two 18-year-old Zainabs, nearly a century apart. Both rather unconventional, gutsy, and not yet fully grown up. This intriguing and exciting book portrays the awakening of love, of political awareness, and of the dilemmas faced by both Zainabs. Both live in times of turmoil: one during the freedom struggle, and the other during the fight to preserve democracy in the current times. Their lives touch each other through a sari here, a diary there. The story is woven expertly, with sensitivity and understanding of emerging adulthood. A totally engrossing and delicate coming-of-age story.
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The People of the Indus, by Nikhil Gulati with Jonathan Mark Kenoyer; Illustrated by Nikhil Gulati
Most children probably learn about the Indus Valley Civilization in school history. The basics are known to all. But bringing that era and culture to life is another thing altogether. The meticulously researched book is a collaboration between a graphic artist and archaeologist. Using the graphic novel format, it touches on all the complexities of reconstructing a civilization from archeological data. Yet it is a child’s eye view, through the eyes of a child actually living in the time. The book does not shy away from current debates about the origins of the people of the Indus and indeed of modern Indians.
