Kalpana's Dream (Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors (Awards)) [Hardcover]

Judith Clarke (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Series: Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors (Awards)

Neema's and Kate's first day of Wentworth High begins poorly but gets much worse when they find out that their English teacher, the pale Ms. Dallimore, is notorious for challenging essay assignments. Ms. Dallimore assigns an essay with the topic "Who am I?" and gives class 7B a whole six weeks to think and write. Everyone calls Ms. Dallimore the Bride of Dracula. She wants her students to think, and imagine and "learn to fly!" As time passes the cleverest girl in the class is reduced to tears; football jock Blocky Stevenson discovers the pleasure of self examination for the first time and writes "I am a person with feelings"; Kate is sure she is a girl who hates her sister; while school custodian/dictator Mrs. Draynor is sufficiently moved by a student's discarded attempt at the essay to reflect on her own past. For Neema, the extended stay of her Indian great grandmother, Kalpana, complicated the question. Nani has been dreaming of flying: skimming faster and faster, just above the ground. And now she's ready to leave her village in India to visit her family in Australia. At first, things are awkward between Neema and Kalpana. Kalpana doesn't speak English and Neema doesn't speak Hindi, but when they meet "the flying boy", Gull Oliver, they both find something they've been looking for.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 6-9. Who Am I? That's the question Miss Dallimore wants answered in an essay that will be due in six weeks. The assignment animates and alarms several of the young people in the freshman class and forms the underpinnings of this heartfelt novel that lightly wraps the realistic story lines in a flimsy gauze of magic realism. Neema, half Indian, half Australian, is one of the students. She is also dealing with a visit from her great-grandmother, who speaks only Hindi, and her unsettling feelings for a skateboarder named Gull Owens, with whom grandmother Nani has her own relationship. As Nani watches Gull fly by on his skateboard each night, she wishes that she might soar as he does. Clarke is brilliant at making gossamer connections between her characters. The interweavings can be common or unexpected, but they are always meticulously rendered. Unlike many young-adult authors, Clarke takes special care with the adult characters, especially Nani, who is exquisitely drawn and shows that when hope and love are near the surface, age is of no consequence. Only Miss Dallimore and her boyfriend, who may or may not be a vampire, dent the story's magical circle. The book also has an unfortunate title and a dreadful cover. Do your best to make sure the trappings don't deter readers. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author

Judith Clarke is the author of the story collection Wolf on the Fold, which won the Children's Book of the Year Award from the Children's Book Council of Australia. She has also written many award-winning young adult novels including Night Train, The Lost Day, and Al Capsella and the Watchdogs. She lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 164 pages
• Publisher: Hand Print (March 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932425225
• ISBN-13: 978-1932425222
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,338,103 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mixes humor, folktales, peer pressure, and a sense of family, April 15, 2005

By 

Bill's Best Books "www.alan-ya.org" (Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kalpana's Dream (Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors (Awards)) (Hardcover)

When Neema's great-grandmother Kalpana visit's Australia from her native India, Neema finds herself struggling to communicate with a relative who speaks only Hindi, while also dealing dreaming of flying, watching a boy named Gull fly by her window on a skateboard at night, and an English teacher affectionately known as the "Bride of Dracula." (M/H). Told from an omniscient POV, the narrative adroitly mixes humor, folktales, peer pressure, and a sense of family.

2.0 out of 5 stars One Word, May 2, 2007

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Kalpana's Dream (Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors (Awards)) (Hardcover)

the one word that came to my mind when i finish this book was, "huh?" I mean i got it was about finding yourself and friendship, but come on. that was the strangest and most confusing ending ever. it didnt even finish the story.

4.0 out of 5 stars Kalpanda's Dream Book Review, December 2, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Kalpana's Dream (Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors (Awards)) (Hardcover)

This book is mostly about friendships and family matters. Kalpana is Neema's great-grandmother, who dreams of a journey from her village in India to Australia to see her family there. Neema, although her real name was Nirmolini, it was confusing for people to call her that so people got use to calling her Neema instea. She doesn't know much about her heritage, and Kalpana's visit is at first confusing: it's difficult to communicate. Because Kalpana spoke Hindi and had not a slight bit of knowledge in English, also Neema had no idea how to speak Hindi either! Neema's father is enthusiastic about family connections, but he has no connection except by marriage to India. How this visit works out is the heart of the story, and it is touching and funny too. Instead of the frequently used first-person narrator format, this story is told in third-person. The reader looks down at the action and sees how the characters' lives are linked in ways even they don't always know. One major character in this little story is Gull Oliver, who has returned to the neighborhood after living away for seven years. He is attracted to Neema and takes to the streets on his skateboard, flying by her house every evening. He find her very familiar from years before, and so did Neema. The elderly Kalpana sees the boy zoom by in the dark, flying and she longs to fly too. Of course when the Judith described Gull as flying, she really meant speeding in his skateboard. But in Kalpanda's view, she has different thoughts. In the end, Gull and Neema found out how they knew each other in the past. This story is best described as creative and bizzare.