January Challenge Reveal: Where a Library is Central to the Plot

Thanks to the newsletter, friends and strangers told me about the books they read as children and teenagers. It turns out that many of us have read too many of the 'Sweet Valley High' and the various ‘Mary Kate and Ashley’ series from our school libraries. While I have no regrets about spending hundreds of hours reading these books, as well as every teen Vampire series that existed in the early 2000s and every book Meg Cabot had written by then - I also think we all deserve to read Indian children's books that we missed out on. So, I am excited to share two books I love that fit the January prompt perfectly.

Book Uncle and Me written by Uma Krishnaswami and illustrated by Priya Kuriyan (Scholastic, 2012)

The library setting in this book is probably not what you imagined when reading the January prompt. Book Uncle runs a free lending library on the street corner whose motto is 'Right book for the right person for the right day.' Our narrator is nine-year-old Yasmin, Book Uncle's busiest patron, who has read a book a day since her eighth birthday. But this perfect arrangement falls apart when the city delivers a notice to Book Uncle that he must get a permit to operate, a permit that he could not afford. The rest of the plot follows Yasmin and her friends as they try to get the grown-ups to take notice and influence the superstar standing for the upcoming elections for mayor to care about their problem.

'Book Uncle and Me' has also played an important role in my writing journey. More than two years ago, when I decided to take writing a bit seriously - by that, I mean applying to any competition I could find related to writing for children (there are far too few!). My typical approach to competitions is reading through the instructions many times, trying to guess what story would appeal most to the judges, and then sending long-winded voice notes to friends with half-formed ideas that they refine by asking incisive questions. Then, I read as many novels related to the thematic area as possible before finally sitting down to write the story. When I decided to enter the Scholastic Asian Book Award 2023, I looked up all past winners and came across this book. I loved Yasmin and her friends, but I also realized that if I had to have even a tiny chance at winning, I had to write better than anything else I had written until then. So I have 'Book Uncle and Me' to thank for my first ever traditionally published children's book coming out later this year.

A Book for Puchku written by Deepanjana Pal and illustrated by Rajiv Eipe (Pratham, 2017)

Puchku always has a book on her - when taking a bath, eating food, and on the swing - she is constantly reading - till she runs out of all the books she can reach in the library. If you aren't already won over by her, let me add that Puchku is purple-coloured, and her best friends (not very enthusiastic readers) are named Boltu and Dodla! Puchku comes up with inventive ways to reach the bookshelf, which is too tall for her. Spoiler: A very tall and very nice librarian comes to the rescue!

As an adult reader, I was happy that Puchku had a library she could walk to, supportive friends and adults who did their best to help her find her next book. If you, like me, believe that libraries should be accessible to all, do check out the work of the Free Libraries Network, a collective of organizations that are anti-caste, gender & disability inclusive and deliver excellent library services to all.

While I have fond memories from my school, I didn't particularly care for my school library. There was a strict no-talking rule, and the librarian seemed to think that her primary role was to skim through instalments of popular series to find mentions of crushes and kisses and move them to higher-grade shelves (that you could access only if you were studying in that particular grade or above). If you are based out of Bangalore and want to enrol your child in a lending library that puts children first and is run by adults who genuinely care about children's literature, I have two recommendations for you - Cosy Nook Library and Kahaani Box.

If you find value in this content, please share this newsletter with a friend or two. If you are following the reading challenge (that issue also includes recommendations for the February prompt if you want to get a headstart)

and end up reading either of these books, tag me on Instagram (varshaxvarghese) or put it up in your stories on Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp, linking to the newsletter! I would really appreciate it. I also have a special end-of-the-year surprise planned for those who complete the entire challenge (if that is an incentive to share your progress!).

Till next time,

Varsha