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Overview
Mina can't wait to celebrate Holi, the high-spirited Hindu spring festival of colour. Every year she and her family have a party and Mina invites all of her classmates. But this year it will be different because Mina's Nanaji (grandfather) is now living with the family. Mina has not adjusted to this addition to the household and is confused by her embarrassment of Nanaji's continuous advice and thick accent. But when Mina overhears a new classmate making fun of the way Nanaji talks, she is horrified and begins plotting the perfect revenge. The Holi celebration soon loses its carefree, joyful atmosphere as Mina worries about her payback. But before she is able to ruin the party for herself and her classmates, Nanaji reminds her of the true spirit of Holi, allowing Mina to come to terms with her true feelings about her family.Synopsis
Mina can't wait to celebrate Holi, the high-spirited Hindu spring festival of colour. Every year she and her family have a party and Mina invites all of her classmates. But this year it will be different because Mina's Nanaji (grandfather) is now living with the family. Mina has not adjusted to this addition to the household and is confused by her embarrassment of Nanaji's continuous advice and thick accent. But when Mina overhears a new classmate making fun of the way Nanaji talks, she is horrified and begins plotting the perfect revenge. The Holi celebration soon loses its carefree, joyful atmosphere as Mina worries about her payback. But before she is able to ruin the party for herself and her classmates, Nanaji reminds her of the true spirit of Holi, allowing Mina to come to terms with her true feelings about her family.
VOYA
Each spring, elevenyearold Mina's family hosts a fabulous party to celebrate Holi, the festival of color. Mina's grandfather, Nanaji, has come from India to live with the family, but Mina is not sure if she welcomes his presence at a party that is attended by all her friends and neighbors. Nanaji speaks loudly with a heavy Indian accent, and he often chooses odd topics of conversation. Mina remembers how close she once felt with Nanaji when he would tell her stories of Krishna, the playful blue god, but now those stories, and even Nanaji himself, embarrass her. Her worst anXieties are realized at her school's open house, when Mina overhears classmate Ashley making derisive comments about Nanaji. Believing that she is furious over the injustice to her grandfather, Mina gathers her friends and plots revenge on Ashley. Although the Holi festival is meant to be a time to abandon grudges, Mina chooses the party as the perfect opportunity to thoroughly humiliate Ashley. Mina is an eXcellent eXample of a North American girl with cultural roots that eXtend across the globe. Her Indian heritage, however, is of passing consequence in her life. Although she loves the festival of Holi, which is celebrated by throwing colorful dyes, she avoids understanding the deeper meaning of the festival. Gilmore convincingly portrays the turbulent emotional life of an elevenyearold, with equally violent outbursts of anger and love. Recommend this fine title to younger adolescents, $7.95 Trade pb. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P M (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8). 2000, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 143p, $15.95. Ages 12 to 14. Reviewer: Diane Masla
SOURCE: VOYA, December 2000 (Vol. 23, No. 5) <%ISBN%> 1550415492
Editorials
Children's Literature
Every year, the Salvi family hosts a Northern Indianstyle Holi celebration, inviting everyone they know to their house for this wild and rambunctious holiday of spring. This year, however, Mina's grandfather is here, newly emigrated from India, and things don't go quite as well as usual. Gilmore writes of intergenerational conflict—and tenderness. Young Mina's narrative voice is not a bit geeky. The reader is pulled into this family story about speaking up, and letting go—the sorts of things that happen in any family, but are set against a cultural backdrop the author sketches with loving familiarity. 2000, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ages 8 to 12, $14.95. Reviewer: Uma KrishnaswamiVOYA
Each spring, elevenyearold Mina's family hosts a fabulous party to celebrate Holi, the festival of color. Mina's grandfather, Nanaji, has come from India to live with the family, but Mina is not sure if she welcomes his presence at a party that is attended by all her friends and neighbors. Nanaji speaks loudly with a heavy Indian accent, and he often chooses odd topics of conversation. Mina remembers how close she once felt with Nanaji when he would tell her stories of Krishna, the playful blue god, but now those stories, and even Nanaji himself, embarrass her. Her worst anXieties are realized at her school's open house, when Mina overhears classmate Ashley making derisive comments about Nanaji. Believing that she is furious over the injustice to her grandfather, Mina gathers her friends and plots revenge on Ashley. Although the Holi festival is meant to be a time to abandon grudges, Mina chooses the party as the perfect opportunity to thoroughly humiliate Ashley. Mina is an eXcellent eXample of a North American girl with cultural roots that eXtend across the globe. Her Indian heritage, however, is of passing consequence in her life. Although she loves the festival of Holi, which is celebrated by throwing colorful dyes, she avoids understanding the deeper meaning of the festival. Gilmore convincingly portrays the turbulent emotional life of an elevenyearold, with equally violent outbursts of anger and love. Recommend this fine title to younger adolescents, $7.95 Trade pb. VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P M (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8). 2000, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 143p, $15.95. Ages 12 to 14. Reviewer: Diane MaslaSOURCE: VOYA, December 2000 (Vol. 23, No. 5) <%ISBN%> 1550415492