Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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.

Picture in your mind the image on the cover of this book, "Kalpana's Dream": a lone skateboard set dramatically against a periwinkle sky, casting a striking shadow onto the sun-bleached concrete beneath it. Now picture in your mind an elderly Hindu grandma, swathed comfortably in a traditional white sari, stepping confidently onto this skateboard, pushing off, and gracefully gliding into flight.

Of course, this novel by Judith Clarke isn't as random as that description makes it sound. It's actually about Neema (real name Nirmolini), an Australian girl with roots in India, who experiences the same school, friend, and boy problems that you'd expect. Like her teacher who may or may not be going out with a vampire; or her best friend Katie who simply cannot stand her little sister; or Neema's crush on the strangly familiar boy who rides past her house on his skateboard every day.

But through its focus on Neema's family background and Indian cultural heritage, "Kalpana's Dream" gives a refreshing twist to your run-of-the-mill, day-in-the-life-of-a-girl-just-starting-high-school teen novel. Plus, the perspective wanders omnisciently from Neema, to her grandma, Kalpana, to the school's English teacher, and even to other students in the class. Clarke weaves these plots together neatly, keeping things focused yet varied enough to pull the reader's attention throughout this cute little novel. Please, don't judge a book by its cover - but if you're in the mood for some light literary refreshment, let your curiosity lead you over to "Kalpana's Dream."

Reviewed by Beckie Sheffield for Flamingnet Book Reviews
www.flamingnet.com
Preteen and young adult book reviews