Tamarind and the Star of Ishta

March 1, 2022
Grades 4-6 Tamarind longs to know more about her mother, who died when she was a baby, but her father is uncomfortable talking about her. So when Tamarind has the opportunity to visit her mother's family in India for the first time, she seizes it. Staying in their large country home for a week, she comes to love her grandmother and learns to avoid the cousin who instantly dislikes her, but her relatives are reluctant to talk with her about her mother's life, too. Gradually, she's pulled into an otherworld by a girl she meets in the garden at night. Drawing closer to her mother in both dimensions, she gains the elusive sense of belonging that she needs. Tamarind's story unfolds in a first-person narrative that reveals her yearning, her discomfort while adjusting to a different culture, and her courage in taking risks to reach her goal. While the realistic conversations with family members are informative and move the story forward, young readers may find the vivid, magical night scenes more compelling. An intriguing intergenerational family story.

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May 16, 2022
Raised in England by her Indian father, Tamarind never knew her seldom-discussed mother, Chinty, who died from an illness shortly after her birth. But when her father and new stepmother, Chloe, who cues as white, leave for their honeymoon, Tamarind is sent to meet her late mother’s family and visit India for the first time, spending a week during monsoon season in the family’s Himalayan mansion. She arrives with big feelings—including resentment of Chloe as well as curiosity about her cultural heritage and her mother. But her extended family proves as mum as her father about the details of Chinty’s life and death. Tamarind meets an enigmatic spirit, Ishta, in the atmospheric mansion’s luxuriant gardens. As Tamarind works to accept changes, Ishta provides her with answers about her mother’s life and death—and allows the family to confront their frozen grief. In Bilan’s (Aarti & the Blue Gods) supernatural-leaning contemporary novel, lushly descriptive prose, presented in Tamarind’s reportorial first-person voice, underlines the book’s essential themes of family and heritage, while a sensitive excavation of loss and family dynamics grounds the title’s otherworldly elements. Ages 8–12.

July 1, 2022

Gr 3-6-Tamarind finds herself facing all kinds of new things. First, Tamarind's father marries a white woman. Then, while they honeymoon in India, she is left in Punjab with her mother's family, whom she hasn't seen since her mother's death when she was an infant. Life with her relatives in the Himalayan mountains is fraught while getting to know her cousins and learning more about her mother. Tamarind, described as having golden skin like her father, is incredibly disconnected from her Indian cultural roots because of her upbringing in Bristol. However, she has her father and paternal grandparents nearby. When introduced to Indian foods, clothes, and customs, Tamarind, and by extension, readers, see these as exotic and othering even as the story pushes into the fantastical. An author's note includes Bilan's inspiration to incorporate a mythical garden where Tamarind could connect with her missing mother. Ultimately, this story is about self-discovery and identity, though it lacks character development and authenticity in the primary and secondary characters. The pacing is inconsistent and may be confusing to readers. VERDICT With an increase in Southeast Asian representation in middle grade fantasy, readers are best directed to other titles. Not recommended as a first purchase.-Monisha Blair

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