Rutabaga's Reads 2023: Part 13

It’s not a competition, but I think middle-grade (MG) is winning. It’s almost year-end, but I’m back with the third MG compilation post of this year!

It’s Showtime, Kavi (July 1, 2023) by Varsha Bajaj.

   Parvati Pillai, illustrator.

Where her eight-year-old brother, Rishi, wants to be an aspiring doctor, diagnosing everything by ending it in –itis, Kavi Sharma has a passion for music and performing. Kavi and her best friends, Pari and Sophie, sign up to perform in their school’s revue. To participate, students must be in good academic standing, so it’s not a good sign when Kavi receives her first tardy ever (the day their mom returns to the workforce) and flunks a pop quiz in science class the following day because she didn’t do her homework (because she forgot her textbook at school). As Rishi would say, Kavi’s got a bad case of Broadwayitis. When Kavi wants to quit, Rishi wonders if she has quitteritis. When it all comes out in the open, and she knows it’s okay to ask for help, things turn around and scholaritis sets in. Kavi isn’t the most organized person, but she’s definitely determined. Her family’s behind her, including Scamper, their dog, and the show must go on!

            This is an illustrated middle-grade novel marketed for what I’d consider younger middle-grade readers. However, Girl of the Year (GOTY) 2023 Kavi is older than most of the characters at 12 years old (they’re typically around nine or ten). She’s American Girl’s first GOTY of South Asian descent, and I love the cultural flair the story has. Pillai’s illustrations are bold and colorful, but the ones featuring Indian dress are what pull me in the most. It also feels real, from the weight of juggling schoolwork with extra-curriculars and/or lessons to feeling so overwhelmed that quitting seems like the best option. The story flowed well and didn’t feel contrived. It has me wanting to eat samosas and Dadima’s cookies (dadima is your dad’s mother in Hindi), learn a Bollywood dance and own a sari.

Never After: The Broken Mirror (Dec. 6, 2022) by Melissa de la Cruz.

<This is the third novel in a series.>

Their loads are light as they trek to Snow Country, but only because Robin Hood and his band of thieves have stolen their possessions. Robin Hood robs from the poor to give to the rich. Yes, that’s correct. Filomena Jefferson-Cho, Jack the Giant Stalker, Alistair Bartholemew Barnaby (Ali Baba), Gretel the Cobbler’s Daughter, Byron Bessley (formerly Beast) and [Princess] Beatrice are off to Snow Country after a detour to aid Princess Jeanne of Northphalia by rescuing Lord Sharif (Riff) of Nottingham. They must also find her crown before King Richard (not a real king) can take her head and her crown. New lines of the prophecy state that “Only the League of Seven can save the lands” from the ogres. Who’s the League of Seven? Are they seven DWARVES (actually giants; it’s an acronym for Dwayne’s Army of Really Very Extra-Large Soldiers)? Are they seven swan brothers? Whoever they are, they must be fearless, and they are needed. Hortense’s Prince Charlie has been turned into a frog, the fairy Colette’s whereabouts are unknown, and word comes that the fairy, Zera (Scheherazade), has been captured by one conspiring with Olga (the ogre queen) and Cinderella (her evil ogre daughter). Filomena is also wrought with worry over her adoptive mom back home in North Pasadena, California, as she’s fallen sick, and the doctors can’t figure out what’s wrong with her. They make new friends along the way, namely, Rose Red (Rosie), daughter of Snow White/Colette. With the ogres and their evilness spread far and wide, perhaps even into the mortal world, how can Filomena and her friends save Never After?

            de la Cruz’s third fractured fairy tale in The Chronicles of Never After is another win. The story is engaging and delightful with high-spirited adventure and young heroes navigating feelings of helplessness and fear as they’re also trying to save a land they love. There’s magical enjoyment and emotional depth in this absorbing middle-grade fantasy. Real world and the fantasy world don’t collide so much as segue from one to the other, and the author has a knack for making it read seamlessly. It contains racially diverse characters with casual mentions of food and drink which may not be familiar to all readers, like when Hortense wants to drink dohwa-cha or peach blossom tea (a traditional Korean tea). Entertainment value is high, but it isn’t without intense scenes, as death does happen in Never After. It’s a land I’d love to visit, perhaps live in part-time, thus becoming biportal, but I’ll wait to visit until after Filomena and her friends defeat the ogres.

            P.S. This is a small thing, but the part that niggles at me are her poems. I didn’t like their flow. Like, I’m reading it in my head and get into a rhythm, a tempo, but the lines (verses) don’t match up. The poems are like puzzle pieces that should fit together but don’t quite.

            Book One: The Thirteenth Fairy

            Book Two: The Stolen Slippers

Winston Chu vs. the Whimsies (Feb. 7, 2023) by Stacey Lee.

<This is the first novel in a duology.>

Shenanigans arise for 12-year-old Winston Chu when he inadvertently halts a robbery and winds up with a broom and dustpan as a reward from Mr. Pang’s Whimsies, an oddities shop in San Francisco’s Chinatown that smells like popcorn. He might’ve first touched the KICK-ME BOOTS, FAR-SEEING EYEBALLS or the EGGS OF TRUTH. Even the HOVERING PIZZA SWAT (CAUTION: HOT) would’ve been far more significant than a broom. And dustpan. Feeling defeated, Winston takes his two-for-one “reward” to the home he shares with his crotchety older sister, Philippa, his “threenager” little sister, Coco, and their hard-working mom, Willa, single since their military-translator dad, Philip, was killed in a friendly fire incident in Iraq. It’s after the broom and dustpan return home with him that beloved possessions go missing, from Philippa’s Babar the Elephant to Lucky (Winston’s goldfish) and even his only soccer jersey. Coco’s different, too; she’s now Not-Coco. Winston only has five days to find the changeling Chang-Ah-Ling and switch them back. Winston won’t be alone. He has his soccer mates and friends: Maverick (Mav) McFee, Cassa Kowalski and Bijal (last name unmentioned). He might even have Dani Kim, the cute and talented niece of his cooking instructor, who wears a seemingly magical cocktail umbrella behind her ear. Answers may come from the cloud weaver and her husband, the cowherd, if they’re willing to work as a team. Warning: a dance-off seems imminent. Prepare to avoid the object’s sharp and poisonous needles. No pressure.

            East and west collide in this contemporary middle-grade novel that re-imagines a Chinese folktale full of magic, mayhem, a go-to boba shop and friendship. The tale has middle-school smart-mouthing, but it’s also heartfelt. Themes of family and friendship and working through grief help bind the cleverly-written, fast-paced, action-filled story. I appreciate that Lee has created a racially diverse cast (Bijal cues as South Asian, Mav has some Senegalese ancestry, Dani’s name hints as Korean and Cassa interprets as Caucasian). This adventure from the Rick Riordan Presents imprint is a win, and I look forward to more magical mischief and mirthful hijinks in the next installment. Look out for the Fire-Weiler and the Were-Bear. The mustache is up to mischief, but may come in handy, too. For anyone who ventures into this story, keep a weather eye open for all of those whimsically wicked objects!

            P.S. I could use a Brain Strainer. It will “seep stress away.”

            Also by Stacey Lee: Luck of the Titanic (YA)