PICTURE BOOK - In Andal's House by Gloria Whelan

Illustrated by Amanda Hall

Copyright, publisher

2013 Sleeping Bear Press

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 3.64 - 28 ratings

My rating: 3.5

1^st line/s:   "Kumar's mother gave him another helping of mango pickle to go with his dal."

My comments:  This lovely picture book includes , along withing the story, lots of information about contemporary India, including the cast system, Diwali (The Festival of Lights) and bits and pieces about food and family and famous people.

Goodreads:  As a young boy in Gujarat, India, Kumar sometimes feels like he lives in two worlds. First there is the old world where people and their choices are determined by prejudice and bigotry. But then there is the second, modern world: in this world Kumar can be friends with whomever he chooses and his future looks bright. As part of the annual Diwali celebration, Kumar is invited to the house of his classmate Andal to watch fireworks. Andal is from a high-caste Brahmin family so Kumar is especially pleased to be included. But there in Andal's house, Kumar's two worlds collide in a very unpleasant way. Instead of being welcomed as a guest, Kumar is sent away, forbidden to join the festivities. Angry and hurt, Kumar is left questioning his place in Indian society. Where does he fit in? To which world does he really belong?

44. Small Acts of Amazing Courage - Gloria Whelan

A Paula Wiseman Book, Simon & Schuster, 2011
HC $15.99
for:  Mid Grades
218 pgs.
Rating:  3.5

In 1919 India, being the daughter of a high-ranking British official gives you wealth, prestige, and power.  In Small Acts of Amazing Courage, Gloria Whelan tells of such a daughter,15-year-old Rosalind James.  Rosy's father has been away a lot, leaving her care to Rosy's mother and a huge household of various Indian servants.  Rosy has grown up with her maid's daughter, loves the bazaar and all things related to India.  Her father greatly forbids her to have anything with the native population.  She's strong headed and disobeys him.  And this leads him to send her to England - for the first time in her life - for a "proper" education, under the care of her two aunts.

The setting goes from privileged life in India to a steamship from Bombay to England, to life in England and back to India again.  Along the way we meet Gandhi and many of his followers and sympathizers, learning about nonviolent protesting and the plight of the Indian people.  We learn a bit about Hinduism, the caste system, and the colonials.  It's an interesting taste, but it's just a taste.  I would have liked a little deeper look into life of this girl.  Where some books are just too long and involved, this one needed a little more.  I love Gloria Whelan's work, and I was a bit disappointed with this one.

Gloria Whelan

Gloria Whelan was born in 1923 in Michigan and has remained there throughout her life and writing career. She lives in a somewhat isolated cottage on the edge of a lake and writes (when the snow is not a couple of feet high) in her "Secret Garden." She was born six years before my own mother, which makes her 87 years old...and still writing prolificly! Bravo Gloria Whelan! I love your writing AND your stories....and so do my students!

• See What I See (2010)
• The Listeners (picture book) (2009)
• Waiting for Owl’s Call (picture book)
• K is for Kabuki (2009)
• The Locked Garden (2009)
• After the Train (2009)
• The Disappeared (2008)
• Yuki and the One Thousand Carriers (picture book) (2008)
• Parade of Shadows (2007)
• Yatandou (picture book) (2007)
• Summer of the War (2006)
• The Turning (Russian Saga / Book 4) (2006)
• Mackinac Bridge / The Story of the Five-Mile Poem (picture book) (2006)
• Listening for Lions (2005)
• Chu Ju's House (2004)
• Burying the Sun (Russian Saga / Book 3) (2004)
• Friend on Freedom River (picture book) (2004)
• The Impossible Journey (Russian Saga / Book 2) (2003)
• A Haunted House in Starvation Lake (Starvation Lake / Book 4) (2003)
• Are There Bears in Starvation Lake? (Starvation Lake / Book 3) (2002)
• The Wanigan: A Life on the River (2002)
• Fruitlands: Louisa May Alcott Made Perfect (2002)
• Jam and Jelly by Holly and Nellie (picture book) (2002)
• Rich and Famous in Starvation Lake (Starvation Lake / Book 2) (2001)
• Angel on the Square (Russian Saga / Book 1) (2001)
• Homeless Bird (2000)
• Welcome to Starvation Lake (Starvation Lake / Book 1) (2000)
• Return to the Island (Mackinac Island Trilogy / Book 3) (2000)
• Miranda's Last Stand (1999)
• Forgive the River, Forgive the Sky (1998)
• Farewell to the Island (Mackinac Island Trilogy / Book 2) (1998)
• The Shadow of the Wolf (1997)
• The Miracle of St. Nicholas (picture book) (1997)
• Friends (1997)
• The Indian School (1996)
• Once On This Island (Mackinac Island Trilogy / Book 1) (1995)
• That Wild Berries Should Grow (1994)
• Night of the Full Moon (Libby Mitchell Trilogy / Book 2) (1993)
• Goodbye, Vietnam (1992)
• Bringing the Farmhouse Home (picture book) (1992)
• Hannah (1991)
• The Secret Keeper (1990)
• Silver (1988)
• A Week of Raccoons (picture book) (1988)
• Playing With Shadows (adult book) (1988)
• The Ambassador's Wife (adult book)
• The President's Mother (adult book)
• Next Spring an Oriole (Libby Mitchell Trilogy / Book 1) (1987)
• The Pathless Woods (1981)
• A Time to Keep Silent (1979)
• A Clearing in the Forest (1978)

The Listeners - Gloria Whelan

Illustrated by Mike Benny
Tales of Young Americans Series
Sleeping Bear Press, 2009
$17.95
40 pages
For: Kids old enough to understand slavery
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: White (a tiny drawback...)

I begin with Gloria Whelan's "Author's Note," found at the beginning of the book: "The lives of slaves depended on circumstances beyond their control. They had nothing to say about whom they would work for or where they would live. They never knew when they might be separated from their children or their spouses. Hoping to learn their fate, they sent small children to hide near the windows of their masters' homes to listen.

Authors are listeners, too, that's how they find their stories. They listen. Sometimes they hear stories from people who have lived them. Sometimes they hear words spoken long ago and set down in books. It's what writers do; they listen, and like Bobby, Sue, and Ella May they pass the stories along."

This information for kids is twofold - it talks to the reader about slavery AND about being a writer.

This book looks at slavery from a slightly different angle, it looks at the hard work that even very young children do, and it looks at how some of the massive groups of slaves were able to find out any information about what was going on in the country and in the world of their plantation. It is a thought-provoking tale about three young kids who listen outside the window of their "owner's" to glean any kind of news that might be relevant to them.

Dark, glorious illustrations going all the way to the edge of the page richly accentuate this gracefully told story. Outstanding.