Indian Reads
KING’S CAGE (B&N EXCLUSIVE EDITION)
(RED QUEEN SERIES #3)
by Victoria Aveyard (HarperCollins Publisher)
THE HANDMAID’S TALE
by Margaret Atwood (Knopf
Doubleday Publishing Group)CARAVAL
by Stephanie Garber
(Flatiron Books)THIRTEEN REASONS WHY
by Jay Asher (Penguin
Young Readers Group)CARVE THE MARK
by Veronica Roth
(HarperCollins Publisher)bestseller
COURTESY WWW.BARNESANDNOBLE.COMMuezza with Baby Jaan:
Stories from the Quran
by Anita Nair
Penguin Random House India, ` 488
In a book, based on a 13th-century book
written by Ibn Kathir, Anita Nair writes to show
that the Quran is a treasure trove of stories
just waiting to be read or read out aloud.
Her book revolves around the re-telling of
the tales around two narrators: a cat named
Muezza and a baby djinn who is a shape-
shifter. Muezza, separated from his owner
Shahir, is lost in the desert and is discovered
by the baby djinn, who takes the form of
a camel called Baby Jaan. Together, they
form an unlikely friendship as they travel
through the desert, with Muezza telling stories
from the Quran. One of the tales talks about
the origins of burial customs in Islam. When
Habbil, one of Shahir’s sons, dies, Shahir and
his other son Qabil are left distraught. They
travel with the corpse, not knowing what to do
with it, till they come upon a murder of crows.
They see how crows dig a hole in the ground
to bury their dead and cover them with earth.
It is an act that Shahir and Qabil follow.Nick And Tesla’s High-Voltage
Danger Lab: A Mystery with
Electromagnets, Burglar Alarms,
and Other Gadgets You Can
Build Yourself by “Science Bob”
Pflugfelder and Steve Hockensmith
Quirk Books (Rupa), ` 255
Siblings Nick and Tesla are shipped off
to their eccentric Uncle Newt’s house for
their summer vacation. Bored, they take
up their uncle’s invitation to tinker in his
lab. The result: a rocket ship, which
launches straight into the house next door
with Tesla’s locket. Now, of course,
the children need to get the rocket and
locket back and that is where the mystery
begins. Is the house haunted or did Nick
just see a pale-looking girl? As the plot
progresses, the siblings construct five
inventions that the reader can build too,
reading the instruction manual published
in the book along with a list of tools
required. Expect simple illustrations,
plot lines following stereotypical tropes,
and a mystery-solved ending that should
thrill the Scooby gang and fans.Small Towns, Big Stories
by Ruskin Bond
Aleph Book Company, ` 279
In the preface to this collection of short
stories, Ruskin Bond talks about how there
is always a tale (fictional or non-fictional)
in small towns because “It is easier to
know people in small places” and their
stories. And what a delightful collection
of short stories it is! There are stories of
innocence, like The Big Race, where three
little ones wake up early every Sunday
morning to race their pet insects against
each other, and of resolute defiance
in the face of grief in The Funeral.
There are biographical mentions in
Bus Stop, Pipalnagar or the classic
The Night Train at Deoli.The irony that
is life is beautifully contrasted between
Rani Ma and Colonel Jolly in When
The Clock Strikes Thirteen. The Visitor,
written in a deceptively simple manner,
will definitely leave you with a smile
as will When The Guavas Are Ripe,
a defibrillator for those who have
lost hope.1 2 3 4 539 April 2017 April 2017^33