Child of Dandelions by Shenaaz Nanji [in Bloomsbury Review]
01 May, by in Fiction, Indian, Indian African, Middle Grade Readers, Repost, South Asian, Young Adult Readers
When the brutal dictator Idi Amin violently grabbed power over Uganda, he declared in August 1972, that within 90 days all Indians would have to leave the country. Part of Uganda’s population since the 16th century,...
Ironically named “Wealthy One,” Dhané is a poor farmer who can’t get a lucky break in the small village his family has called home for many generations. Originally published in the 1950s, this new edition offers...
Pakistani dictator General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq’s sudden death in a mysterious 1988 plane crash remains unsolved. Hanif, once part of the Pakistani air force and now a British expat, cleverly presents a riotous fictional version of how...
The long-awaited follow-up to 
At the heart of M.G. Vassanji's sixth novel, The Assassin's Song, is an exercise in perspective. Definitions of right and wrong, truth and deception, the chosen and outcast – especially in matters having to do with...
A sweet story about a young Bangladeshi girl who’s determined to help her impoverished family. While her incredible spunk and spirit initially gets her in trouble, her tenacity and talent find a way to help her...
The renowned cooking guru and award-winning actress presents an inviting memoir – complete with family recipes, of course! – about growing up in the sprawling family compound in Delhi, surrounded by extended family members, literally climbing...
I have to admit that I had never heard of Indian graphic novels (just not on my radar, even though I have a heavy South Asian diasporic literary bent because...
Well, no wonder why I hadn't heard of Indian graphic novels until discovering Sarnath Banerjee! I wasn't alone as his debut title, Corridor, was widely marketed as Indian's first graphic novel! Although, that's apparently incorrect information...
Tarun Tejpal's debut novel, The Alchemy of Desire, begins and ends with the same words - but with a completely different meaning by book's end. Over the course of 518 pages, an unnamed writer takes a...
In one of the first of numerous books about the devastating December 2004 tsunami that claimed over 280,000 lives, a courageous dog saves a frightened young boy from certain death. Based on a true story, this...
Loss dominates the lives of the inhabitants of a crumbling, stately home on the Indian-Nepali border along the Himalayas. The Cambridge University-educated, self-hating judge’s isolated life is disrupted by the arrival of his young granddaughter, Sai,...
Searching for Home
Shyam Selvadurai Debuts Swimming in the Monsoon Sea
While ‘home’ today for Shyam Selvadurai is undoubtedly Toronto, Canada, the ‘home’ that he plumbs for his books remains Sri Lanka, where he was born and lived...
The turbulent mother-daughter relationship between world-renowned filmmaker Deepa Mehta and her photographer/journalist daughter is interwoven into a fascinating account of how Mehta’s latest film, Water, came to be. As the final installment of Mehta’s...
If you’ve got half an hour, you’ve got a meal. Now hurry up and feed me!
Review: 
In spite of its devastating moments, this is one fabulous novel about a billion-rupee quiz show winner, a lá Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, who is unjustly arrested for cheating. Rescued from being further tortured,...
Got the publication date confused and held it longer than intended – but can’t let it go without saying this is a grand coming-of-age story. Jazz Gardner travels to India with her family where...