Interesting books to read this month

Hello everyone! 

I have read a few more interesting books in the last few weeks of summer break and I want to share my book list with you.  Out of these 4 books, I found common themes like Family, friendship and faith between 2 books (Asha and the spirit bird and Esperanza rising).

The main heroes in these books are girls of my age  and I find many similarities with them. Whereas the other two books are very different from each other but are interesting. Therefore I am sharing these books with you. 

Age: 9+
Asha And The Spirit Bird: 

‘Asha and the spirit bird’ is written by Jasbinder Bilan. It is about a twelve year old girl named Asha who lives with her family near the Himalayas in North India . Asha lives on a farm with her 2 siblings, her mom and has a good friend named  Jeevan. Her father goes across the country to work in a city  and sends them money.  Trouble starts when Four months passes , and the family doesn’t get any calls, letters or money from the father. Landlords come to their house and ask for the money that their father had borrowed from them. Asha and her best friend Jeevan decide to go to the city to find the father. A crow keeps following them and Asha thinks that it is her deceased grandmother’s spirit. As in Hinduism, it is believed that our ancestors come as crows as a spirit. They have a long adventurous journey.

Will Asha find her father?Will it be too late to find the father? She just has seven weeks to find him,before the festival of Diwali! This story is about family, friendship and faith.Asha believes that the  bird that continues to help her throughout the difficult journey was her grandma’s spirit.  Jeevan is a true friend who helps her find her father.

Age: 14+

The White Tiger:

The White Tiger has become one of the favorite books that I have read so far.Although it is not my reading level, I have enjoyed reading this book with my mom.

I came to know about this book during a free book club on varsity tutors.

This book is written by Arvind Adiga and has won the prestigious ‘Booker award’. This book reflects poverty, crime, caste system, corruption in the Indian society and entrepreneurship. Balram Halwai, a man from a poor family in Bihar, is forced to quit school by his granny in order  to make money and  pay for his cousin’s dowry. He moves to Delhi in search of work. He finally finds a job and works for Mr Ashok and Pinky Madam as a driver. Balram feels suppressed and is frustrated about things around him.Towards the end of the story, Balram kills his master.He becomes a successful entrepreneur in Bangalore and changes his identity to start his new life. This is his journey of becoming a master from a servant.

If you are wondering about the title of the book, here is the explanation.The White tiger is an animal that is rare and comes once in a generation. Balaram’s nickname is ‘white tiger’ because he is unique. To learn more about it please read the book.

A movie based on this book is being made.

I liked this book because I learnt a lot about India but I didn’t like the violence and crime.

I feel that Balram’s character is complex and i still don’t understand why he killed his master as he was not so bad to him. 

Age: 9+

Animal Farm:

Animal  Farm is a popular book written by George Orwell.It is an easy way to learn about politics and the history of the former Soviet Union. The animals in the book represent important leaders like  king Czar, Lenin and Stalin during Russian revolution. There is a movie based on this book.

This book is about farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. Ultimately, however, the rebellion is betrayed, and the farm ends up in a state as bad as it was before, under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon (The character represents stalin). 

The poorly-run Manor Farm near Willingdon, England, is ripened for rebellion from its animal populace by neglect at the hands of the irresponsible and alcoholic farmer, Mr. Jones (The character represents king Czar of Russia)

. One night, the exalted boar, Old Major (represents Lenin), holds a conference, at which he calls for the overthrow of humans and teaches the animals a revolutionary song called “Beasts of England”. When Old Major dies, two young pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, assume command and stage a revolt, driving Mr. Jones off the farm and renaming the property “Animal Farm”. They adopt the Seven Commandments of Animalism, the most important of which is, “All animals are equal”. The decree is painted in large letters on one side of the barn. Snowball teaches the animals to read and write, while Napoleon educates young puppies on the principles of Animalism.

In order to learn more about this book, you can get a copy from  the library or watch a movie on youtube. 

Age 9+

Esperanza Rising

I mentioned this book in the beginning of this blog. This book is written by Pam munoz ryan. Esperanza is a thirteen year old girl in Aguascalientes, Mexico. She is the daughter of a wealthy landowner, Sixto Ortega and has a happy life. She lives on her family’s ranch, El Rancho de la Rosas, with her mother, father, and grandmother Abuelita. The day before Esperanza’s 13th birthday, her father is murdered on his way to town. Her uncle Tío Luis reveals he now owns their land, as it was not customary to leave property to women. Tío Luis offers to continue to care for them and their ranch on one condition: Esperanza’s mother must marry him. When she refuses, he threatens that she will regret her decision. Their ranch later burns down during a fire caused by Tío Luis. Esperanza and her mother have to stay in the servant’s quarters with their longtime servants and family friends, Alfonso, Hortensia, and their son Miguel. Abuelita, injured during the fire, is sent to a convent where she can recover. Esperanza, Her mother, Miguel, Hortensia and Alfonso go to South California where they work on a farm. Esperanza realizes that she is no longer a rich girl and she is now a peasant. Esperanza then learns about the challenges in life and works hard to earn money so that she can bring her grandmother from Mexico . After a dust storm, Esperanza’s mother gets very sick with valley fever and people say that she may not survive.  

Will Esperanza and the rest of the camp will survive through the tough battle? Will Abuelita come back? Will Esperanza’s mother survive? Read the book to find out.

I really enjoyed these books and I hope you will enjoy reading them.