Kashmira ShethBesprekingen

Nina Soni: Sister Fixer can be used in a 3rd-5th grade classroom as an introduction to reading chapter books. This book is part of a series. This book could be used as a partner read where partners can read through the series together. This book tells the story of a sister bond and getting through things together.

This story is a great intermediate chapter book following the story of a young Indian American who is struggling with being distant with a best friend. After reading the first chapter, I think that the writing of this book is captivating and fun! It is perfect for students who are into chapter books and like books that are written creatively. I think this would be a great addition to have in my classroom library.

This is a good story that will find interested readers if it's booktalked. I think just the plain fact that child slavery exists will grab young readers. This book challenges them to face what it's like to be a victim of poverty, to live on the streets, to be kidnapped and forced to work night and day far away from your family. It's very heavy stuff, but it's told in a way that children as young as 9 or 10 will be able to absorb.

The story centers on Gopal, a boy who loves his small village but is forced to sneak away with his family to Mumbai so his parents can escape crushing debt. Their experience in the gritty, stinky Mumbai slums would be harsh enough, but on top of that Gopal is kidnapped and sold into slavery. He and five other boys are locked into a small building where they toil night and day gluing beads onto frames. Gopal, a smart kid, dreams of escape but is dragged down by the hopelessness of his situation. Can he bring the other boys together to help escape?

I admire the author for making this kind of story accessible to young readers, but I thought her writing was a little clunky, particularly when she tried to thread Hindi and Marathi words into the English text. Also, I had trouble distinguishing the five boys Gopal meets in the sweat shop. At first, they have no names (hence the title) so Gopal makes up nicknames for them. Still, some of their personalities tended to blend together for me.

All in all, though, a very interesting book that may inspire activism and at the very least promote awareness.

Once again, I'm reading young adult fiction and finding it enjoyable and moving. The ending was a bit abrupt.

This gorgeously illustrated book provides a glimpse into the customs and traditions of Indian weddings, particularly the fun tradition of the bride's younger sister stealing the groom's shoes during the wedding ceremony.

Note: I received a digital galley of this book through NetGalley.

Sweet story -- loved it when Nina and Jay end up putting on a "magic" show for her sister's birthday party, using a cool science experiment. A little stilted -- I found the vocab words and the lists interrupted the narrative, but I also think I'm not the intended audience. Love the kindness evident throughout and Nina's smart voice.

Good book on a heavy topic -- child slavery in India. It's not a fast read, but the characters are appealing and the setting is well narrated.

beautifully creative and fun

This book reveals contemporary global issues of poverty and child labor through the voice of Gopal, an 11-year-old boy who is forced to work at a sweatshop. Glossary, Author’s Note.

This book was beautiful to read. Acknowledging the relationship between the granddaughter and grandmother and the grandmother with her Indian tradition Sari really shows the love and respect the words and illustrations.

This book was so cute. I love the grandfather and grandson having fun spending time with each other in the rain.

I enjoyed this book. I love grandmother and granddaughter books and movies because it reminds me of my grandmother and all the memories we shared together and how much I learned from her.

Nina is back, with another problem (or set of problems) that she hopes her list-making skills can fix! Her main problem is her little sister Kavita. She loves her, but does she HAVE to be so, well, weird? She sets out on a project to fix her, but a long, rainy weekend gives her another idea of a project to pass the time and at first it seems to be working well... but then disaster hits!

This is another delightful slice-of-life story in Nina's Indian-American family. Readers will be delighted to revisit her warm, caring family and sympathize with the irritation of dealing with an annoying younger sibling. Nina also deals with some cultural misunderstandings from the family of friends, and continues the ups and downs of friendships at school.

Parents will laugh hysterically when Nina turns her stomach yellow, while young readers will absolutely get the utter embarrassment when Kavita tells people about it! There are more projects to keep Nina busy (and in and out of trouble) including some beaver-related engineering, which brings in some science and math problems.

This is a bit under 200 pages and would be just right for 2nd to 4th grade readers who enjoy family stories with gentle humor. I have quite a few families who like this type of story, and it's great to have more diverse offerings for them!

Verdict: Add this to the most recent Ramona read-alikes, with plenty of humor and heart and recommend to readers who enjoy Stella Batts, Amelia Bedelia, and other similar chapter books.

ISBN: 9781682630549; Published April 2020 by Peachtree; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library

set in India

First in a new series about an Indian-American girl named Nina who uses lists to help with her forgetfulness. Changes in her family because her father is working in another state cause Nina to be distracted due to her changing family unit. However, when she accidentally broke her best friends Jay’s pirate ship in art class her status as Jay’s friend is questionable. With her friendship broken, a large assignment for school approach, and her younger sister's birthday party Nina has a lot on her plate. Nina finds inspiration after learning about Alexander Fleming and her science experiment ends up saving her sister’s party. I especially liked how the author Kashmira Sheth inserted lists and vocabulary words into this simple story. Making this book great for early chapter book readers. All of the characters are sincere and relatable. Nina sets a great example embracing her weaknesses and correcting her mistakes. This story would be a wonderful read-aloud that would lead to discussions about the importance of friendships and responsibility.

First in a new series about an Indian-American girl named Nina who uses lists to help with her forgetfulness and loves words. Lately she has been distracted by her father working in another state during the week which leads her to break her best friend Jay’s pirate ship in art class and forget an assignment for school. Not only does she need to mend her friendship with Jay, find a topic for her paper she also has to help with her younger sister’s birthday party. Nina finds inspiration after learning about Alexander Fleming and her science experiment ends up saving her sister’s party. Author Kashmira Sheth inserts lists and vocabulary words into the straightforward story. All of the characters, especially Nina, are sincere and relatable. Nina sets a great example embracing her weaknesses and correcting her mistakes. This story would be a wonderful read aloud that would lead to discussions about the importance of friendships and responsibility.

I liked Sheth's young middle grade chapter book, The No-Dogs-Allowed-Rule, when I read it back in 2012 although I felt it had some flaws. She's since published some picture books, but I hadn't really followed her work much until I got a galley of her newest work, returning to the young middle grade audience, and this time starting a new series.

Nina Soni has a hard time keeping track of, well, everything. She tries to make lists, but with all the things going on in her life it's so hard to remember stuff! On top of all that, she starts the book with a disaster, accidentally ruining her best friend Jay's art project. Now he won't even talk to her! Nina has to figure out how to repair her friendship, help her mom get ready for her little sister's birthday party, fix her sister's hair disaster, and finish her personal narrative project in only a few days. Can she do it?

In the end, although Nina doesn't solve all her problems without help, she does work things out, repair her friendship, and help her sister have a memorable birthday party. She also discovers some things about herself and her family along the way.

Nina is Indian-American and her best friend Jay is part Indian, part Caucasian. Part of their issues stem from his family from Texas moving to Wisconsin and taking up more of his time with fishing, camping, and other outdoor sports. Nina worries a lot, as Jay tells her at the end, and her father being on a long business trip doesn't help. With her family pulling together, and Nina finally telling her friends and family her worries, things get much better though.

The issues I had with Sheth's earlier work aren't apparent here. Nina's Indian-American culture is smoothly woven into the narrative and the text is much smoother and less choppy, though still at an approachable reading level. The book is about 150 pages long, just right for fluent 2nd grade readers up through 4th grade. Peachtree sometimes has iffy covers for their chapter books, but this is a good choice, showing Nina on the cover with her mixed feelings clear in her face.

Verdict: Add to Claudia Mills' Franklin School Friends, Eleanor and Owen, and other realistic school and family fiction. This is especially attractive to me, since it's casually mentioned that it's set in Wisconsin!

ISBN: 9781682630570; Published October 2019 by Peachtree; Galley provided by publisher; Purchased for the library

Tis book is a very colorful and interesting book.The boy wants his sister to read him a story and when she doesn't his imagination comes into play. This book shows how innocent little children are and when they start imagining they can go very far and deep.

this colorful book is about an indian girl who attends her cousins wedding and has to hide the grooms shoe as it is a traditional game that isplayed in every indian wedding.It is Sona's first wedding and she does not know how to or where to hide the shoe.Her cousin helps her and after being given the shoe she is given a gift.

This is a story about an indian boy who bonds with his grandfather by going outside and playing in the monsoon rains.They make paper boats and watch peacocks dance in the rain. This books shows a glimpse of the everyday life of an indian family.

this story is about a grandmother and her two grand daughters who are very interested in the cloths.this is a very family oriented book and at the end the girls dress up in the same traditional cloths as the grandmother.They find a special love and interest in their culture from their grand mother even after their mother wears western cloths.

The illustrations in the book convey the story behind who the tiger really is. The little boy begs his sister to read him his book and you can tell by the pictures she keeps pushing him off. He decides to get her attention finally by saying he was hungry. His sister makes him soup that he imagines a tiger jumps out and starts wrestling him. Once the soup cools the tiger goes away, but his sister goes to warm it up and he hears the tiger roar. His imaginations get his sister to finally read his tiger book to him and the illustration shows her face behind a tiger face roaring. She was the roaring tiger.