TITLE: Pinkoo Shergill Pastry Chef

AUTHOR: Vibha Batra

PAGE EXTENT: 200

PUBLISHER: Scholastic India

GENRE: Middle Grade

MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐💫

SOURCE: Received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Pinkoo Shergill has a dream. He wants to be a pastry chef! But it’s the worlds biggest secret. You see, his Papaji believes that boys shouldn’t step into the kitchen or cook or bake. In fact, Papaji wants Pinkoo to become a shooting champ. Ack! But when the Great Junior Bake-a-Thon comes to town, Pinkoo has to come up with a WOWMAZING plan to make sure his blabbermouth cousin, Tutu, doesn’t vomit everything to Papaji, win Nimrat–the Most Annoying Girl on the Planet–over and win the baking competition. Pheww!

I’m all for breaking gender stereotypes and this book screams about it like no other!

Pinkoo, aka Prabhjot Shergill is a middle schooler from Ludhiana, Punjab who has a penchant for baking, much to the dismay of his Papaji. His father wants him to win an Olympic medal in shooting and Pinkoo is not interested whatsoever. He just wants to bake, bake and bake! Leave him to himself and the kitchen and it’s his heaven on earth! What happens when an international contest, the Great Junior Bake-a-thon comes to India and Pinkoo desperately wants to participate? Will he go behind his father’s back and participate or will he convince his father to grant him permission? Or will all his dreams come crashing down?

This was a cute, breezy read with a deeper meaning embedded beneath. India is a country where gender stereotypes rare their ugly heads on an everyday basis and children are expected to conform to these stereotypes, almost always against their will. If I boy is seen enjoying something that’s not “conventionally masculine”, he’s called names and rebuked for being into “girly things”. And where do we start breaking these stereotypes? Yes! Right from childhood! Vibha does an amazing job of portraying this in a way that’s appealing to every young reader and tells you not to be ashamed of what you love, no matter what the society tells you otherwise.

This book also throws light on something most Indian kids experience in their lives: parents making major career decisions for their children even before their children know what a career means! Parents tend to pressurise their children into achieving what they WANT THEM TO ACHIEVE, without even considering if their children want that path for themselves! These aren’t issues that can be easily conveyed to young, budding readers and this is a great feat in itself! Kudos, Vibha!

It’s a fun-filled book with a ton of desserts that are bound to make your salivary glands go pow pow pow! Vibha’s writing is quirky and fun and hilarious and will tickle your funny bone! Pinkoo, along with his cousin Tutu, his enemy-turned-friend Nimrat and Chef Khanna sets out to do the impossible and it shows how all we need is perseverance and a strong will to achieve our goals! Shamika Chaves’ illustrations only help make the book better!

And I promise you, it has a happy and satisfying ending that will make you sniffle and smile and beam with pride!

Do you have a sweet tooth? What is your favourite dessert? 😋

TITLE: Kolam Kanna

AUTHOR: Vibha Batra

PAGE EXTENT: 136

PUBLISHER: Puffin Books (Penguin India)

GENRE: Middle Grade

MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐️

SOURCE: Received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The exciting Kolam Kondattam Kontest is right around the corner. And Bharathi can’t wait to participate and show off, er, showcase his creative skills. Encouraged by his friends, Tabassum and Alagu, he registers for the contest (with a ‘k’).

Alas, the Residents’ Welfare Association, led by the fearsome Mrs Subramaniam, won’t hear of it. The contest is open only to the residents of Pravin’s Paradiso Apartments. And while Bharathi hangs out at the apartments all the time, he’s not exactly-technically-actually a resident.

Now it’s up to Bharathi to hatch an ingenious plan. Will he be able to get around the rules, get past the building bullies and get a shot at his dream?

Guess who went back to Middle School and reminisced about some great memories while reading this book? Me! I remember participating in a couple of kolam contests back in school and winning prizes and I couldn’t help but see myself in Bharathi throughout!

Bharathi is a young chirpy kid from Chennai who LOVES drawing Kolams and he also happens to be a pro at it! When the Residents’ Welfare Association of Pravin’s Paradiso Apartments(where Bharathi’s father irons clothes for the residents) decides to host a Kolam Kontest(yes, with a ‘k’ hehe) Bharathi’s friends Tabassum and Alagu encourage him to participate! But when has the journey to success ever been easy? sighs Mrs Subramaniam, the President is against the idea of a non-resident(technically) participating in the contest and there is the problem of the apartment bullies too! Will Bharathi succeed in beating the odds? Read the book before I end up revealing everything hehe.

I love how this book smashes gender stereotypes and shows how Bharathi is unapologetically proud of his talent! Being someone who was into kolams and mehendi and art in general, I resonated with Bharathi on a whole new level!

Is a Middle Grade book even complete without some amazing friends? Tabassum and Alagu are the true hype queens! Not only do they stand up for their friend, they also push him to do the right thing, even if it’s slightly out of his comfort zone!

Kudos to Jemma Jose on the cute illustrations that are peppered through the book and make it a joy to read!

If you’re in the mood for a light read on a lazy Sunday afternoon that will leave you with a sense of warmth, you know which book to pick up next!

What are some stereotypes you want to break? Let me know in the comments!

TITLE: Jukebox

AUTHOR: Nidhi Chanani

PAGE EXTENT: 224

PUBLISHER: HarperCollins India

GENRE: Graphic Novel, Middle Grade

MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐️💫

SOURCE: Received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A mysterious Jukebox, old vinyl records, and cryptic notes on music history, are Shaheen’s only clues to her father’s abrupt disappearance. She looks to her cousin, Tannaz, who seems just as perplexed, before they both look at the Jukebox which starts … glowing? Suddenly, the girls are pulled from their era and transported to another time!

Keyed to the music on the record, the Jukebox sends them to decade after decade of music history, from political marches, to landmark concerts. But can they find Shaheen’s dad before the music stops? This time-bending magical mystery tour invites readers to take the ride of their lives for a coming-of-age adventure.

Following up on the success of Pashmina, Nidhi Chanani delivers another story about family and friendship, tinged with magical realism – this one featuring a time-traveling jukebox.

If you’re in a reading slump or in between dense fantasy novels and want to read something light and adorable that will have you cracking into a huge smile, you’re in the right place!

Jukebox is a cute, time-travel themed graphic novel that is a treat to every music fan out there! When Shaheen gets suspicious over the disappearance of her music-lover father, she teams up with her cousin Tannaz and searches for him in the one place she expects him to be: the vinyl records store! But what she finds is a jukebox that also happens to be a time-travel machine and transports you to the time when the music was composed in history! As Shaheen and Tannaz travel from decade to decade in music history, unravelling truths and mysteries, they are also running out of time to save her father! Will they manage to race against “time” (haha, literally) and save her father before they lose him forever?

Nidhi’s art style is A-DO-RABLE! The 2-page spreads had my jaw dropping open from time to time! It takes you on a musical journey you will thoroughly enjoy and back to the present, beaming with happiness! I was googling about all the musicians featured in this book and boy, was it fun!

I’m all for representation in books and there is no shortage of it here! Bangladeshi Muslim rep, check. Bisexual rep, check. Dyslexia rep, check. Ticks across the board!

And do not forget to read the author’s note towards the end! You get a playlist and behind-the-scenes sketches of how this graphic novel came into existence! Nidhi goes on to explain how music has played a vital role in her life and how this book is close to her heart, and needless to say, it’s close to mine now too! 🥺

Nidhi, you’re now on my list of auto-buy authors! Yay!

Are you a fan of graphic novels? Which ones are your favourite? Let me know in the comments!

TITLE: Much Ado About Nada

AUTHOR: Uzma Jalaluddin

PAGE EXTENT: 320

PUBLISHER: Corvus (Atlantic Books)

GENRE: Romance

MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐️

SOURCE: Received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Nada Syed is stuck. At twenty-eight, she’s living with her parents and mourning the failure of her start-up baby, which failed because of a double-crossing business partner.

Nada’s best friend Haleema is determined to pry her from her shell – and what better place than at the giant annual Muslim conference? And did Haleema mention that Baz will be there?

What Haleema doesn’t know is that Nada and Baz have a secret history. And in their chance encounter at the conference, that history comes hurtling at Nada, bringing a moment of reckoning. Will Nada find a way to let go of the past but hold onto her dreams?

“My little sister, the family Wonder Woman. I hope my daughters grow up to be just like you.”
“An imminent disaster?”
“An evolving masterpiece,” Waqas countered.

OKAY WOW. I have way too many thoughts swirling around in my head and I have no clue how I am going to articulate them all into a review but I’m going to try my best. I had heard nothing but great things about this book and going in, I had a LOT of expectations and boy, did it live up to every one of those expectations and more!

We follow Nada Syed, the daughter of Hyderabadi immigrants in Toronto, who is in a professional and emotional limbo after the failure of her start up, Ask Apa. But her bestie, Haleema is not one to back down. Haleema drags Nada to a huge and super-posh annual Muslim conference on the other end of town with hopes of getting her a match! But when has the life of a Desi woman ever been that simple? Nada’s past finally catches up to her when she meets Baz, the broody, handsome son of the conference organisers, who she happens to have history with. Will Nada succeed at rekindling her love? Or will everything come crashing down? Not spilling the beans here, you have to read the book to find out!

This was my first time reading a second chance romance and full disclosure: I was a bit apprehensive about it being unrealistic or sloppy. Never did I think second chance romance would be a strong contender against enemies-to-lovers for my favourite romance trope of all time! People perceive this trope in different ways and I honestly feel it’s not something very easy to execute but needless to say, Uzma has knocked it out of the stadium with this one! I’ve come to love email exchange banter in books and the emails between Nada and Baz had my heart doing a happy flip from time to time, hehe!

The story takes place in two timelines and thanks to my attention span(comparable to that of a goldfish), I was worried I might have to do a lot of back-and-forth page flipping. But surprisingly, the two lines tied up seamlessly in a way that you can follow both the plots simultaneously without having to keep referring to the other and they ended up make perfect sense throughout!

“A world doesn’t exist where I don’t choose you, Nada beta, over everyone else. I will always choose you.”

This book is the perfect, nuanced depiction of South Asian families and their complicated dynamics and what Desi women tend to go through on a daily basis, although there is an undercurrent of love beneath it all. The South Asian obsession with professions like doctor, lawyer or engineer, the constant need to feel validated by impressing your parents and doing what’s right according to the strict rules set by them, the constant fear and anxiety of Brown parents regarding their children’s marriage, the way divorce is considered a big no-no and is frowned upon, to name a few, have all been portrayed with such finesse that every South Asian reader who picks up this book will find it so very relatable. A special shout-out for the disability rep too!

Baz was such a cinnamon roll I instantly fell in love with his character! The sweet and (very halal) chemistry between Baz and Nada was adorable and Baz is now on the never ending list of my favourite book boyfriends! Haleema is my absolute favourite side character who is a breath of fresh air and hype queen rolled into one! Every single side character in this book is given their own spotlight to bask under and that made me add an instant star to the rating! I love me a book that’s full of imperfectly perfect characters and this book gave them to me in heaps!

If you’re in the mood for a fresh, easy-going romance novel that’s full of South Asian pride and memorable characters, pick this book up right away! But be warned: it’s so compulsively readable you will not be able to put it down and even if you do, you will want to grab the book and pick up where you left off immediately!

What is your favourite romance trope? Let me know in the comments!

TITLE: Vaccines for Smartypants

AUTHOR: Anushka Ravishankar

PAGE EXTENT: 40

PUBLISHER: Duckbill Books (Penguin Random House India)

GENRE: Chapter Book

MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐️

SOURCE: Received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Are you a Smartypants?
Do you ask a lot of questions? Like-
Are all germs bad?
What is an antibody?
Do T cells go to school?
If you do, then you just might find the answers in this book.
It has gorgeous pictures, simple explanations and a very curious cat!

Being a doctor, curiosity always gets the better of me(much like the cat in the book!) when I come across books for young readers that discuss topics related to the field of medicine. Unsurprisingly, when I saw this adorable book that explains vaccines to budding readers, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy!

Kudos to Anushka Ravishankar for simplifying the concept of vaccines and making it palatable to the young ones! Since they are the ones most subjected to vaccines, it makes perfect sense to make them understand what exactly happens in their body every time they get a jab! Immunology was one of my least favourite and most dreaded areas of study in medschool and I love how the entire immune system has been summarised perfectly!

Pia Alizé Hazarika’s illustrations throughout the book are adorable and the cat’s questions were hilarious and had me giggling from time to time!

If you have a curious young reader at home, or if you are a curious young (at heart) reader like I am, pick up this adorable picture book!

Do you know how wonderful vaccines are in preventing deadly diseases?

TITLE: How to Reach Mars and Other (Im)Possible Things

AUTHOR: Menaka Raman

PAGE EXTENT: 44

PUBLISHER: Puffin Books (Penguin Random House India)

GENRE: Middle Grade

MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐️⭐️

SOURCE: Received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Rabia is one of the most curious girls you’ll meet. She’s always full of questions: How, Why,
What, Where and When!

When she hears a classmate say that women can’t be scientists, she has to find out if it’s true. Luckily, she’s soon visiting the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) on a field trip with her classmates, where she bumps into Dr Mary, a physicist.

When Rabia learns that Dr Mary is one of the scientists working on a daring mission to Mars, she asks her all the questions that she can think of about the mission.

Join Rabia and Dr Mary as they walk through ISRO and learn everything about making the impossible-possible!

If there’s one thing that’s impossible, it’s you NOT falling in love with this book! And what better time to read this book than now? With India having achieved the feat of soft landing on the South Pole of the moon, why not find out more about the nitty-gritties of satellite making and the effort it takes to launch a satellite into orbit?

Rabia is a curious middle schooler whose head is always brimming with questions and ideas and is the one to raise her hand first every time the teachers pops a question! When Madhu sir gives the class an assignment to draw a scientist, everybody except Rabia ends up drawing a man. Much to her dismay, her classmate Pavan says that women can’t be scientists! This sets Rabia off on a curious journey of discovery during a field trip to ISRO, where Rabia finds out that there are a LOT of women scientists with extremely important jobs involved in the making of a satellite(Mangalyaan, in this case), thanks to Dr. Mary, a scientist herself!

This book had me beaming with pride and joy after turning the last page. Being a proud Bangalorean myself, a book featuring ISRO made my heart do cartwheels!

I have always been intrigued by astronomy and satellites and this book was the perfect quencher to that curious thirst of mine! As Dr. Mary guides Rabia through the tedious process of making a satellite and launching it into space, you’ll be surprised at just how many women are actually involved behind the scenes, all of them with great accolades and even greater brains! This is infotainment at its best! You get to learn a lot about the physics behind satellites in a way that’s not info-dumpy or boring!

A huge shout-out to Rajiv Eipe for those gorgeous illustrations that made this book the joyful experience it is! Seeing the saree-clad scientists at the end of the book had me smiling from ear to ear!

In a world that is quick to judge women and label them as weak, misogyny quite often readers it’s ugly head in society. Books like these are essential to make young readers(especially girls) realise just how much potential they have and they can and WILL achieve everything they set out to! STEMinists unite!

Well, I don’t have to convince you more! Pick up this adorable yet powerful book and discover for yourself! It’s not “rocket” science, you see? Unless you to try to lick your elbow, which is impossible! 😉

Have you found something to be impossible but achieved it nonetheless? Let me know in the comments!

TITLE: Sinbad and the Rise of Iblis

AUTHOR: Kevin Missal

PAGE EXTENT: 230

PUBLISHER: Penguin Random House India

GENRE: Fantasy

MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐️

SOURCE: Received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

You might be wondering why I’m still speaking in the midst of chaos. Well, danger has now become my constant companion. In my reckless quest for power, I shattered the trust of those who once stood by my side. The words ‘betrayer’ and ‘broken’ are now etched into my very being.

But there is no time to give in to my misery. The dreaded devil, once imprisoned, has risen from the depths of Qlitop. With a legion of abominable creatures at his command, he now threatens to unleash unrestrained havoc upon the world.

Time is rapidly pushing us towards the abyss. Desperate, I must embark on a harrowing journey to acquire three mystical artefacts that can save our ravaged Earth. Yet, as fate would have it, these
objects can only be found within alternate universes, adding another layer of torment to my already tormented existence.

Prepare yourself for the final instalment in Kevin Missal’s Sinbad series, a gripping reimagination of the legendary sailor from the classic One Thousand and One Nights!

WOW! That was indeed an explosive conclusion to the trilogy! Binge-reading this trilogy and going on adventures with Sinbad and his ragtag crew was the respite I didn’t know I needed!

In the final instalment of the trilogy, we follow Sinbad, a Seid-turned-sailor and his crew of misfits and vampires on his journey to multiple realms(yes, you read that right, there is interdimensional travel in this one) to find three artefacts that will help him vanquish the risen devil, Iblis once and for all. Add some shocking revelations and Norse Gods to the mix, and you have one banger of a book! I will try my best to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible, because who likes spoilers?

Having grown up on stories like The Arabian Nights and being a huge fan of mythology right from childhood, this book was right up my alley! Kevin has taken all these stories we love and cherish and mashed them up into an amalgamation of funny(and sometimes questionable)characters and a super-fast plot that will you have you reading the book from cover to cover in one sitting! Be warned: pick up this trilogy ONLY when you have a lot of time on your hands, because you CANNOT stop reading!

The author’s writing style is smooth and simple and before you realise it, you’re flipping the pages at breakneck speed, bracing yourself for all the explosive action and craving for more! The chapters being short are an added bonus!

Reading the trilogy at a stretch made me realise just how much the characters have grown in the span of three books! I tend to have a soft spot for books with well fleshed-out characters and good character development and this book had me sighing with contentment. 😌 Who knew this team of some of the most incompatible yet somehow the most compatible people will always have a place in my heart for years to come? The theme of found family shone through the pages and I was low-key jealous of the bond this tight-knit group shared. Kudos on the queer rep too!

However, I would be lying if I said the climax was perfect. I expected the climax to be more action-packed and thrilling but it felt weirdly too convenient and hastily done. Needless to say, the story was wrapped up perfectly and gave all the characters the closure they deserved.

If you’re in the mood for a high-stakes fantasy with some intense, action-packed scenes that will have you biting your nails in anticipation, you know what to pick up next!

What are you waiting for? Read this trilogy right away!

TITLE: Always the Almost

AUTHOR: Edward Underhill

PAGE EXTENT: 320

PUBLISHER: Pan Macmillan India

GENRE: Young Adult, LGBTQIA+

MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐️

SOURCE: Received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A trans pianist makes a New Year’s resolution on a frozen Wisconsin night to win regionals and win back his ex, but a new boy complicates things in this heartfelt debut YA rom-dram. Sixteen-year-old trans boy Miles Jacobson has two New Year’s resolutions: 1) win back his ex-boyfriend (and star of the football team) Shane McIntyre, and 2) finally beat his arch-nemesis at the Midwest’s biggest classical piano competition. But that’s not going to be so easy. For one thing, Shane broke up with Miles two weeks after Miles came out as trans, and now Shane’s stubbornly ignoring him, even when they literally bump into each other. Plus, Miles’ new, slightly terrifying piano teacher keeps telling him that he’s playing like he “doesn’t know who he is”—whatever that means. Then Miles meets the new boy in town, Eric Mendez, a proudly queer cartoonist from Seattle who asks his pronouns, cares about art as much as he does—and makes his stomach flutter. Not what he needs to be focusing on right now. But after Eric and Miles pretend to date so they can score an invite to a couples-only Valentine’s party, the ruse turns real with a kiss, which is also definitely not in the plan. If only Miles could figure out why Eric likes him so much. It’s not like he’s cool or confident or comfortable in his own skin. He’s not even good enough at piano to get his fellow competitors to respect him, especially now, as Miles. Nothing’s ever been as easy for him as for other people—other boys. He’s only ever been almost enough. So why, when he’s with Eric, does it feel like the only person he’s ever really not been enough for…is himself?

THIS BOOK RADIATES PURE TRANS AND QUEER JOY FROM COVER TO COVER! 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️I went into it with a mountain of expectations and I’m super happy that it lived up to every single one of them!

Miles recently had a breakup with his (now ex)boyfriend, Shane after he came out as trans. But, of course, the heart wants what it wants. Miles wants to win him back while also making sure he beats his piano arch nemesis, Cameron Hart at the Tri-State Piano Competition. And then there’s the charming, sweet and caring Eric. Will Miles succeed in winning Shane over? Will he also succeed in making Cameron Hart eat his own words? Embark on this journey as Miles navigates transitioning and acceptance, all the while balancing school and piano lessons, and like the author says, this book has a happy ending , and it will leave you sniffling and giggling and smiling from ear to ear!

This book is an ode to music and musicians everywhere and it shows in every single page. Miles is a pianist who has been participating in the Tri-State Piano Competition for quite a while but has always ended up second. Ugh, that feeling! Having been trained in music for more than a decade now, it immediately piqued my interest and I was reading up on famous pianists around the world! The relationship between Miles and his teacher, Stefania was something worth cherishing and will stay rent free in my mind! It was a wholesome student-teacher relationship and Stefania is such a badass we got to take lessons from her in badassery! 💅🏾

ERIC. OMG. ERIC. If there is perfection in human form, it’s ERIC. This adorable, queer sweetheart has so many green flags he is basically a walking St. Patrick’s Day poster! 😂😂😭😭 How is it possible for someone to be SO understanding, caring, empathetic and supportive! If he isn’t the best boyfriend out there, I don’t know who is! Miles, you got really lucky there, man! Eric’s sister, Nina is such a cute jellybean I want to watch Disney movies with her! Also, yay for Down’s Syndrome rep!

The blossoming of love between Miles and Eric was one of the most wholesome aspects of this book and one that will stay with me for a long, long time. chef’s kiss It was fluffy and cute and made me feel hopelessly single! 😂😭

A huge shout-out to Miles’ bestie, the lesbian queen RACHEL! She’s a walking orb of supersonic energy! I was constantly looking forward to her chirpy and excited banter and hilarious quips that had me laughing my head off!

Miles’ journey of accepting his true self and his parents’ journey of coming to terms with it in their own ways were perfectly executed and written with such precision only a trans person can hope to achieve! While most of the book is happy and cheerful, it also addresses some necessary issues such an deadnaming and dead gendering that trans youth face on a daily basis and the impact it can have on their mental health. Edward, you’re one of my auto-buy authors now and I will read every single book you write henceforth!

Books like these make us realise how important representation is. I want every single queer teen to read this book and know we’re not alone and we never will be. We are a part of the most glorious community out there! 🌈

If you’ve read my rant right up to this line, I hope I’ve succeeded in convincing you to pick up this wholesome gem of a book and hug it tightly to your chest once you’ve turned the last page!

Have you read any books with trans main characters? Let me know in the comments below!