WWW.PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM 75Review_CHILDREN’S
Fiction
American as Paneer Pie
Supriya Kelkar. Aladdin, $17.99 (320p)
ISBN 978-1-5344-3938-2
In this resonant #OwnVoices novel, a
first-generation Indian American girl who
initially wishes to blend into her predomi-
nantly white community learns to honor
her identity. Sixth grader Lekha Divekar is
the only Desi kid in her Detroit suburb. In
order to avoid bullying at school, she covers
the bindi-shaped birthmark on her forehead
(which earned her the nickname Dot) and
avoids bringing her favorite Indian foods
for lunch. At home, however, Lekha takes
pride in her heritage and Hindu faith,
practicing folk dances and celebrating
Diwali with her family. When another
Indian family moves in across the street,
Lekha’s initial attitude toward 11-year-old
Avantika is one of condescension: “My new
neighbor had a thick Indian accent. My
new neighbor was a fob.” But as classmates,
Lekha admires Avantika’s confidence and
eloquence, and the two become friends.
After Lekha’s family is the target of racist
vandalism, she determines to speak out
against the xenophobia in her town, where a
new political slogan, “Don’t like it? Leave,”
has taken hold. Though Lekha’s transforma-
tion from silent onlooker to vocal activist
feels sudden, taking place in the book’s final
portion, Kelkar (Ahimsa) illuminates the
need for voices raised against discrimina-
tion and paints a convincing portrait of a
girl straddling two cultures. Ages 8–12.
Agent: Kathleen Rushall, Andrea Brown
Literary. (May)Dragon Ops
Mari Mancusi. Little, Brown, $16.99 (384p)
ISBN 978-1-368-04090-7
When avid gamer Ian Rivera, 12, gets
the once-in-a-lifetime chance to test out
Dragon Ops—a fully immersive augmented
reality theme park based on his favorite
video game—before its release, he leaps at
the opportunity, even if he has to share the
experience with his sister, Lilli, and cousin
Derek, neither of whom appreciate the visit
to the remote South Pacific island on which
it’s situated. Shortly after the three gear up
to begin their adventure, the game’s end
boss, dragon Atreus, traps them inside,
kidnapping Derek and assigning Ian andTiger, who is not afraid of anything—
except worms. After Tiger explains his
aversion to the critters (they’re slimy,
they “like to wiggle,” and “you cannot
tell their tops from their bottoms!”), he
is distracted by things he loves—flowers
planted in soil, a shiny apple hanging
from a tree—only to toss them aside
when he remembers, with horror, that
worms enjoy those very same things.
Unearthed, a few worms articulate their
dislike of tigers (they’re furry, they like
to walk, and “you can tell their tops
from their bottoms!”), until they realize
that Tiger has left behind the shattered
planter he dropped and the apple he spat
out, precipitating a reversal of opinion
that is, wryly, unreciprocated by the
terrified, emotive tiger. Though Higgins
(the Mother Bruce series) slips in worth-
while intimations about making snap
judgments, his spare, Bill Watterson–
tinged art and snappy dialogue create a
cleverly meta early reader that solidly
stands on its comical feet. Ages 4–8.
Author’s agent (for Higgins): Paul Rodeen,
Rodeen Literary. (May)“Lightning gash!/ Windy lash!” Huddled
together, the menagerie (which includes
a few critters—frogs, raccoons, a snail—
not usually associated with barn life)
looks up apprehensively at a window
where a fox appears (“Go away!/ We’re
full today!”). After one intrepid duckling
ventures out into the lashing rain—and,
in a stirring full-bleed spread, is seen
face-to-face with the fox—the animals
emerge to help usher the vulpine family
into their dry sanctuary, where all—
“Brindle and gray,/ dapple or bay”—
remain until blue skies return. Murphy
makes effective use of shadow and light
in pictures that convey the expressive
animals’ apprehension and eventual
change of heart—and underscore the
importance of trust and acceptance.
Ages 4–8. (May)
What About Worms!?
(Elephant & Piggie Like Reading!)
Ryan T. Higgins and Mo Willems. Hyperion,
$9.99 (64p) ISBN 978-1-368-04573-5
In this spry addition to Willems’s
ongoing series, Elephant and Piggie
read a book about deceptively fierce
★ You Matter
Christian Robinson. Atheneum, $17.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-5344-2169-1S
imple and heartfelt, the refrain of Caldecott Honoree
Robinson’s poem speaks directly to readers: “You
matter.” In a neat rhetorical twist, the line also
refers to the Earth itself, whose evolutionary
history flashes by in gently comic collages made with
blocky forms and bold paint strokes. Early sea life darts
beneath a blue wave, small quadrupeds emerge from the
ocean, dinosaurs appear. Under Robinson’s broad gaze,
everything in the cosmos has a part to play: whether a
massive asteroid blazing Earthward (“If you fall down”)
or the planet, revived, spinning serenely in space (“If you have to start all over
again”), “You matter.” Human concerns recede in geological time, then come into
focus as a brown-skinned astronaut orbits Earth while holding a photo of a child.
A page turn shows the child back on Earth looking wistfully out an apartment
window: “Sometimes, someone you love says goodbye.” Scenes shift; the view
from the child’s apartment window moves in, from a busy city street to ants
dining on park pigeons’ crumbs, and then pulls back to a child gazing out an
airplane window at an antlike cityscape below. By seeing all life as intertwined—
ancient and new, minuscule and gargantuan, “The first to go and the last.// The
small stuff too small to see”—Robinson represents life as both interconnected and
precious. It’s a profound thought expressed with singular focus and eloquence.
Ages 4–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (May)continued on p. 78