Victoria and Abdul: The True Story of the Queen's Closest Confident

Victoria and Abdul: The True Story of the Queen's Closest Confident
By Shrabani Basu
Penguin Random House, 2017, Nonfiction. 334 p.

During Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, she arranged for some men from India to be hired to work as servants in her household.  One of the men was Abdul Karim, a 25-year-old office clerk from Agra. Something clicked between Karim and the Queen, and soon she asked him to give her Urdu lessons.  Karim didn't know much English, but as they learned each other's languages, they became dear friends.  The other members of court were worried about the closeness of the Queen and this dark Indian man of low birth and did everything they could to discredit him in the Queen's eyes, but she stayed faithful to him to the end.  He, in turn, helped her understand India, the land that she ruled but that she would never be able to see. 

 

If you are a history buff, this is the book for you. Basu's account is based entirely on historical documents including letters, journals and newspaper articles that give a 360 degree look at the inside of Queen Victoria's life and household.  Basu is very careful not to add to much from her own imagination. and lets the reader make their own judgement on the most fascinating questions, such as what was Karim really like? Was he a opportunist, playing on the sympathies of an old and lonely woman as the court thought, or was he an enlightened and wise companion that helped Victoria understand the people over whom she ruled as the Queen herself thought? This is an intriguing story and a glimpse into real life history on a very human level.

The Serpent's Secret

 

The Serpent's Secret
(Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond, Book 1)
Scholastic Press, 2018, Intermediate Fiction, 368 p.
Kiran has always been a little embarrassed by her parents.  While she just wants to fit in, they persist in emphasizing her Bengali Indian heritage. They cook weird food, have a weird yard, and, worst of all, make her dress up like an Indian princess every Halloween, which is also her birthday.  The year she turns 12 she decides to put her foot down. She is just about to tell her parents she will be a vampire for Halloween, thank you very much, when instead of finding her parents at home, she finds a raging demon tearing up her kitchen.  She is "rescued" from the demon, called a rokkhosh, by two young men who claim to be princes, and starts on a crazy adventure in the world where Indian mythology is real.

This is another great choice for those who like Rick Riordan's earlier Percy Jackson series.  Kiran is a gutsy heroine who gradually comes to appreciate who, and what, she really is. The two princes are also appealing characters, and the reader wonders how the relationship between them and Kiran will develop in later books in the series.  Das Gupta's settings are fantastic and capture the dream-like world of very ancient mythology while incorporating elements of modern science. She ends the book with a note about which stories were based on which Indian Bengali folk tales, and gives their sources.

Slacker

Slacker 
by Gordon Korman
Scholastic Press, 2016. Intermediate Fiction, 320 p
Cameron Boxer is not only a slacker, he is the Michelangelo, the Mozart, the Einstein of slackers. He has absolutely no interests except playing computer games. He gets so engrossed playing online one day that he almost allows his home to burn down.  In response, his parents challenge him to join some kind of extracurricular group unrelated to gaming.  Cameron and his friends decide to create a fake service club at their school with themselves as its only members.  Their plan backfires when other people in the school, including the school counselor, get involved.

Here is another funny school story by the guy that brought us Ungifted and Restart.  As always, Korman is right on target with his depiction of junior high interactions and social quirks. The obsessed crusaders, the hopeful administrator, the brainy side kick, the skeptical sister, they are all here, but Korman lifts them above stereotypes.  Instead they are funny, likable people feel like you have known all your life.  This is the great choice for Korman fans, or for anyone who likes a light, funny, fast, read with a little heart.

Pay Attention, Carter Jones

Pay Attention, Carter Jones
by Gary Schmidt
Clarion Books, 2019. I FIC. 217 p.

Carter's father is serving in Afghanistan, and his mother is struggling to make ends meet.  Carter helps out with his little sisters when he can but he can tell life is hard for his mom. Then one day, Mr. Bowls-Fitzpatrick, a butler from England who drives a eggplant colored Bentley, shows up on the doorstep. The butler quickly takes the family in hand and with courtesy, decorum, and a bit of self importance, starts to sort things out.  He is determined to make Carter into a gentleman, and one way to do that, in his opinion, is to teach Carter and his friends to play cricket.  Carter resists at first, but little does he know that the game, and the butler, is just what he needs to get through the challenges headed for his life. 

I love Gary Schmidt (Wednesday Wars, and Okay for Now) and, as bizarre as the premise for this book is, I loved it, too. When it comes to tender adult/child relationships, Schmidt just has the velvet touch.  It is all about good people helping other good people get through tough times.  I also liked Schmidt's emphasis on what is means to be a gentleman, and how dignity and decorum can make life run more smoothly. It is a lesson any of us would do well to remember.