Ostlere,
C. (2011). Karma: A novel in verse. New York: Razorbill.
Summary: Maya and her father, a Sikh, are traveling to
New Delhi to bring home the ashes of her mother Leela, a Hindu. They arrive in
October of 1984 when Indira Ghandi is assassinated and chaos erupts between
Sikhs and Hindus. Maya is separated from her father, and survives and navigates
the country with the help of Sandeep, a boy with his own past to understand.
Their stories are told through prose in the form of written journal entries.
Response: I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and
felt drawn in by the lyrical prose. The book is broken up into three sections,
each with its own set of conflicts to resolve. While all a part of the same
story, I felt that the book had brought me across a great expanse of time instead
of just six weeks. Maya goes through such a journey, both in traveling across
India and in adolescence into adulthood, while also providing insight to the
complicated and tumultuous history of India. It is as if at the end of the
book, we are in the company of another person all together when reading Maya’s
thoughts. I think this is a great read and a wonderful opportunity for teen
readers to know more about histories of cultures other than their own.
Reviews:
OSTLERE, Cathy. Karma. 521p.
Penguin/Razorbill. Mar. 2011 Gr 8 Up—
This epic tale unfolds through the pages of alternating diaries from
October 28th through December 16th, 1984. Yet countless layers peel off with
the turn of each page, leading readers deeper into the rich and sometimes
tortured history beneath the tale's present. Fifteen-year-old Maya, half
Hindu/half Sikh, has lived her entire life in rural Canada. Her family's
religion and ethnicity set them apart from their community, but also from one
another. Maya's name itself signifies the tension between her parents, lovers
who forsook their families for each other, but who have lived in different
states of mourning and regret since. Her given name is Jiva or
"life," yet her mother blasphemously calls her Maya or
"illusion," an insult to her Sikh father. Thus, when life and loss
lead Maya and Bapu back to India at the time of Indira Gandhi's assassination,
they are plunged deep into a nation in bloody turmoil. Maya's sense of
otherness escalates dramatically as she is forced to consider it on a personal
and near-universal scale. The middle diary belongs to that of Sandeep, with
whom Maya experiences love, tragedy, ancestry, and loyalty at an intimate (yet
physically innocent) level. The novel's pace and tension will compel readers to
read at a gallop, but then stop again and again to turn a finely crafted
phrase, whether to appreciate the richness of the language and imagery or to
reconsider the layers beneath a thought. This is a book in which readers will
consider the roots and realities of destiny and chance. Karma is a spectacular,
sophisticated tale that will stick with readers long after they're done
considering its last lines.
Maza, J. H.
(2011). Karma. School Library Journal, 57(3), 167-168.
Program: Have a creative writing workshop for teens with
books like Karma and other
books written in prose as the inspiration. Have available samples of writing that
are factual or written as a narrative and have teens challenge themselves to
write the events in a poetic fashion. Teens can choose any sort of poetic form
as long as they are altering the content to express details through ornate
description.
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