The City of Ember

Title : The City of Ember

Author : Jeanne Duprau

Publisher : Random House

There is something strange about the city of Ember. It is night everywhere but no twinkling stars and no moon in the sky. There are no plants and animals except for bugs and insects. It is dark all the time except for the yellow lights that flicker from the lamps in the houses and on the streets. Since there is no notion of day or night, the activities happen as per the specific timings. The lights are put out at certain hour every day indicating bed time and the lights are turned on after specific passage of time every day. Everywhere everything seems to be bathed in an ominous yellow glow but still the brightness is missing. Beyond the area that is lit by these floodlamps there is a black scary world that no one has dared venture into. In fact, some people did try exploring that part of the city but were not successful in finding anything after just a few steps in the pitch dark unknown world. The life has been going on in the city as a rhythm, or is it so? Though people have been living here for more than 240 years, it is becoming more and more noticeable that the storerooms are running out of supplies, things are getting scarcer by every day and the city is plunging into blackouts more often now, bringing everything to standstill. In short, uncertainty is looming large over the future of the city and its inhabitants. This underlying fear is getting reflected in the gloominess that is writ large on the faces of citizens of Ember.

One more school term is over and twelve-year-old Doon Harrow and Lina Mayfleet have been assigned their life jobs - Lina as a messenger, and Doon as Pipeworker. The lifeline of the city - the pipeworks are underground where a river roars and a generator works untiringly, illuminating the whole city. Doon believes that he would find something there among the pipes which could possibly change the doomed future of the city. Lina happens to find an old document titled - 'Instructions for Egress', (Egress means exit) in a torn state and along with Doon she decides to solve the puzzle to find the new world. These happen to be the instructions that were written by the builders of the city some 241 years ago to lead the people out at the right time. But clearly something went wrong in the way it was supposed to get passed on from one generation to another.

While on their mission to find directions out of the city, they stumble upon some unflattering secrets about the mayor of the city and his guards. Doon and Lina now face a prison sentence for spreading false rumours. Time is ticking, the guards are looking for them, Doon and Lina have to decide fast and act fast. They have to decipher the mysterious instructions and the task becomes even more difficult when they do not even know what do things like matchsticks, candle and boat mean. Will they every see any light at the other end of the tunnel?

'The City of Ember' is full of fear, mystery, adventure, and desire and determination of two pre-teens to save the people of their city. The narration is engaging and it is interesting how the strangeness of the city is unraveled slowly chapter after chapter. While smoothly weaving the flow of the story, the author very subtly talks about the 'want' in a person which often plagues any logic or reason that comes in its way. Lina experiences this feeling once when on seeing the colour pencils in the store which she so desperately desired, she finds the 'need' of a coat for her grandmother fading away. It was perhaps the same 'want' which had cast its spell on the mayor and his trusted people too, including one of Lina's friends. 

Eight Treasures of the Dragon

Eight Treasures of the Dragon
Retold by - Tutu Dutta-Yean
Illustrated by - Tan Vay Fem
Publisher - MPH Publishing

Dragons play an important part in the stories that I make up for the kids. Although we have only a few dragon based books, dragons feature regularly in our story-time. When we received this book, we were excited and ended up reading one dragon story every night. Some of the stories were big and a single story spilled over multiple days of reading it aloud. 

Tutu Dutta-Yean, the author of this book, brings together various dragon based myths and folk tales and presents eight of them in this wonderful book. The black and white illustrations by Tan Vay Fem add to the allure of these stories. 

While reading this book, I wondered why some folk tales are enduring and how important are the folk tales. A fascinating question which I am sure that historians would be able to answer it better. Sometimes the answer is obvious and self-explanatory and jumps out while reading a folk tale. Take for example one of the stories in this book called 'Sang Nila Utama' - which tells the folk tale of the island of Singapore and how it was named. This story gives us a small glimpse into the history of the place. I found that term 'Singapore' means 'Lion City'. It immediately occurred to me that if I had tried reading the word 'Singapore' in Tamil - I would have also reached the same conclusion.  An internet search will also indicate that Malays called the lion as Singa. This tale quietly told us without being pedantic about the cultural and language interactions or interchange between India and South-east Asia. It was a fascinating journey to read just one folk tale and find a lot of connection between various languages and cultures in South-east Asia. 

I was a bit perplexed about inclusion of mythological Nagas as a dragon in the list of eight stories. I found it difficult to consider that nagas are same as dragons - probably because this idea is not prevalent so much in the mainstream or pop culture. But, if we look at the illustrations of the dragons of the east, one could find out that dragons tales that originate from east usually have them illustrated to look like giant serpents with four legs. This is markedly different from the illustrations of the dragons of the west. A person doing research on folk tales might be able to provide an interesting answer on the similarity between nagas and dragons of the east. I posed this query to Tutu Dutta and she has an interesting answer. Please read it in the interview that will be posted after this review. 

There were a few stories in the list that did not have too much dragon action - like the story called 'The Dragon of Tasik Chini' - a legend from Malaysia. These were the stories that did not work as well with us as the ones in which the dragons were mainly involved like the Japanese stories of 'Ho-Wori and the Princess of the Sea' and 'The Acolyte, the Tengu and the Dragon'. 

My son loved the Tengu story and character Tengu reminded us about the Garudas. This story again triggered a lot of comparison and how the folk tales intermingle across cultures. This book is a great addition to any dragon crazy kids like mine or any one else who are interested in folk tales of various countries. I enjoyed the book and ended up sketching a dragon after reading this book. 

Disclosure - I got this book as a review copy from MPH Publishers. The decision to write about it and the views expressed in this review are completely mine. 

How Far Do You Love Me?

How Far Do You Love Me?

by Lulu Delacre

Stemming from a game the author used to play with her daughters, the book takes us on a journey around the world answering the question, "How far do you love me?"

From glaciers of Antarctica to the Grand Canyon, Kangaroo Island in South Australia to Machu Picchu, the lavender fields of Provence to Mekong river in Vietnam, Ladakh in India to Sinai Peninsula we are treated to breath-taking visuals of the beauty of the world around us, and even beyond our planet, while answering the question in the title.

Books by author-illustrators have that perfect connection between visuals and text. The double-page spread of soft pastels of the grand places on earth combined with simple text makes this a wonderful bedtime read. 

Most pictures show an adult and child, presumably parent/child, in the various places, affirming the reader that children all over the world are loved and cared for. 

On the last double-page spread, the title question is translated in various languages of the places visited and possibly yet to be visited. I was particularly thrilled to find Tamil script on this spread that closely translates the meaning of the title question to How much do you love me. Tamil and Hindi were featured, among other languages, which made me smile widely - two languages I grew up with, one of which happens to be my mother-tongue. 

There is a map of the world pinpointing the places presented in the book - a huge plus for my kids who want to know precisely where every place is on the face of the earth (or underwater or in outer space). 

As shared in BookTalk, the author has been to all of the places showcased in the book, except Antarctica, which she just missed by chance.

The part that irked me initially was that, unlike Guess How Much I Love You where the underlying force was "I Love You" and "I Love You A Lot", the question in this book almost seems like a demand for attention, asking "Do you love me? How far do you love me?". But, in the context of a child asking his/her parent this very real question, much like Mama Do You Love Me, it stretches the boundaries of conventional limitations of expression.

[image source: Lee and Low Books]

Disclosure: The book was a review copy but the decision to share it here was my own.

Flat-track Bullies

pic courtesy duckbill.in

We've earlier enjoyed a few books by Duckbill publishers, and reviewed them here and here. So when we were approached by them to do a pre-publication review, for Flat-track Bullies, Arundhati and I were happy to do it. We both decided to review it separately, so as to give our readers two different points of view.

Here's my (Sandhya) review.

Ravi Venkatesan is your regular 11 year old, poised on the brink of a summer vacation and middle school, mostly in that order. The summer vacation looks promising, mostly to Ravi’s middle class, Tambrahm parents, who have enrolled him in a number of classes that they hope will add value to him, and keep him occupied in useful activities. As part of this busy-ness, Ravi has been handed a notebook, in which he has to write every day, as an exercise in improving his handwriting. It is too much to expect, though, for the boy to meekly fill the book with boring copywriting. Ravi decides to use the notebook as a diary, recording all his escapades with sufficient fruity swear words – he knows his mother very well; she was not likely to read too deeply into it, not if he wrote regularly like a good boy.

It is now that Ravi really comes into his own. We come to know his innermost thoughts, in glorious technicolour, and the true extent to which he would go to satisfy his inner truant. Misquoting from a famous Bollywood film (the mention of which would not be out of place in this particular review), the story of Ravi Venkat’s summer vacation is brim-full of drama, tragedy and general masala. But, again, misquoting from another Bollywood film (which is referred to in the book), all is well at the end.

The book begins well, and Ravi’s turn of phrase keeps you laughing. Somewhere around page 150, though, the jokes get a bit tedious, as one wonders if this is going to continue in the same vein throughout, but then the tide deftly turns, as we hurtle towards the climax with Ravi and his cronies - Sures, Durai and Anto, and the IIT class twosome, Ramesh and Shweta.

There could have been less of the not-so-blatant stereotyping, and some tighter editing at parts, that would have made this book by Duckbill publishers even more enjoyable than it is. A well written (sort of) coming-of-age book where we end up applauding and coming to a place of grudging admiration for its protagonist. I can imagine countless tween readers laughing their way through it, identifying very well with the escapades and thoughts of the characters. All is well.

***********************

Arundhati's review.

The book begins with a fountain pen fight on the last day of school. A tribute to R.K. Narayan?

Ravi (the protagonist) and I have a lot in common - from our last names to being brought up on the dictum that whether you are a lion or a gazelle, if you value your life, you’d better outrun the other.

The author nonchalantly takes a dig at all the ridiculous things grown-ups propagate, from superstition to ruthless ambition. I enjoyed the self-deprecating humour and matter-of-fact way in which Ravi delivers life lessons. Brutally and refreshingly honest.

The part where the relatives visit is hilarious. I found myself chuckling at bits like these:

Like a cyclone update, my uncle’s family kept updating their progress: ‘We are in Andhra now, we have crossed Tamil Nadu border. We have boarded the autorickshaw.’
Daily, I hang from the window grill a full thirty minutes.
Maybe if dad had done this exercise when he was young he would have grown tall, then I wouldn’t have to suffer now hanging from the crazy window grill.
Okay, at least my kid need not hang from the window as I am doing all the hard work. He will be born tall.

The language is not exactly Queen’s English and yet, it is well-written.

The book made an impact on many levels. It brought back childhood memories ... As a parent, it made me introspect ... And as a writer, I was amazed by what the author has managed to pull off.
Ravi’s irreverence for authority and his interactions with his grandparents, Shweta and Ramesh at IIT coaching, with driver Raja and with Durai and cronies – it is all very real. These could be people I know!

Balaji has captured it all beautifully. One could argue that there are stereotypes – I wonder if the author made a choice between stilted and stereotypical and chose the latter?
Somewhere along the way, I began to think, 'it is original and really funny, but where is it going from here?' That is when Balaji surprised me and elevated it to more than just an entertainer. I was blown away by the transition from funny to hard-hitting.

Balaji breaks all the rules and definitions of writing well... and goes on to write really well. Powerful and unconventional.

By the time I’d reached the last page, I was sufficiently impressed to declare ‘Flat-Track Bullies’ a thought-provoking coming-of-age story.