A Time to Dance

Veda has loved dance for as long as she can remember.  Her earliest memory is feeling the rhythm of dance while gazing at an image of the god Shiva in a temple.  She is the best Bharantanatyam dancer in her city in India.  Just when she reaches a high point in her career, winning first place in a classical dance competition, she is involved in a terrible accident.

When she wakes in the hospital, one leg has been amputated below the knee.  This would be a tragedy for anyone, but it is especially painful for a dancer.  She is lucky to meet an American doctor determined to create a prosthesis she can use to dance, and Veda slowly begins to return to herself.

This does not mean her life goes back to normal.  She still has many struggles to overcome and more loss to experience.  When she returns to formal dance training she meets Govinda, a gentle boy with beautiful eyes who helps Veda see the beauty in herself and the sacred nature of the dance she is performing.

Through her new training, Veda learns to feel to connection to God she experienced as a child and to see beyond herself to those who are also struggling.

I really enjoyed Padma Venkatraman's new book about spirituality and strength.  Highly recommended.

Abby Spencer Goes to Bollywood

Abby Spencer's life in Houston has been pretty normal up to now.  She's never known her father, but she has her mom and her grandparents plus great friends at school.  Everything changes one day when she discovers she has a serious food allergy.  Nearly dying can give a girl the courage to ask her mom about her long lost father!

That's when she discovers the truth.  She's always known her father was Indian, but the truth is even crazier than that.  He's a Bollywood star and not just any Bollywood star either.  Naveen Kumar is the hottest star of Bollywood cinema!

Abby wanted her life to be more exciting, but this might be too crazy.  She goes to Mumbai to meet her father and his father where she discovers the wonders and extreme poverty of India.  She also gets a taste of the celebrity life!

No one back home is ever going to believe this!

This is a sweet story about family relationships set against the backdrop of a Bollywood musical.  Varsha Bajaj's story is a light and fun read.  If you went to Tweens Read, you may have seen the author there.

A Beautiful Lie

When religious conflict in India builds to the breaking point and the country is on the verge of breaking apart, Bilal decides the truth is too difficult bear.  That is when the lie is born.  Bilal's father loves India and dreams of a united land and people.  Now that India will be broken apart, Bilal and his father face their own tragedy.  Bilal's father is dying. He won't last much beyond the division of the country, and Bilal's decides that rather than break his father's heart with the news, he will lie.

With the help of his three friends, Bilal keeps up the lie and prevents everyone in their village from telling his father the truth.  But the tensions are rising all over the country, and the four friends of different faiths may not be facing just the end of a united India, they may be facing the end of their friendship.

Click here to connect to author, Irfan Master's website to learn more about him and his work.