Naming Maya [Hardcover]

Uma Krishnaswami (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up

West meets East

Although Maya has done her best to avoid it, she is spending part of her summer in Chennai, India, with her mother, who is trying to sell her grandfather's old house. Soon Maya is drawn into a complicated friendship with eccentric Kamala Mami, who has been a housekeeper and cook for years in Maya's extended family. At the same time, Maya is thrust into an ocean of memories, all coming at her too quickly for her to understand. In particular, she is forced to examine the history of her parents' divorce -- all the more painful because she believes the trouble began with the choosing of her name. For years the tension has simmered in a cauldron of anxiety, secrets, and misunderstandings. It is only with the help of Kamala Mami and Maya's cousin Sumati that Maya is able to see what happened to her parents.

In this compelling first novel, a young Indian American girl finally learns that she can choose which memories to keep and which to let go.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8–New Jersey-born Maya goes to India with her mother, who must sell the family home in Chennai after her father's death. Like many children of divorce, Maya feels responsible for her parents' separation. The title refers to her belief that Mom and Dad's dispute over naming her was somehow her fault. By the end of the book, she knows that her parents' unhappiness had nothing to do with her. The other life lesson she learns comes from an old and loving housekeeper, Kamala Mami, who returns to take care of Maya and her mother during their stay. Mami, who is in the early stages of dementia, shows her that memories remain even while everything else changes. Other supporting characters include a helpful aunt, a kind cousin, and a weather-obsessed neighbor. These elements should make for an interesting and compelling story, but somehow it doesn't quite get off the ground. Where readers might hope for an evocation of the Indian setting, the novel disappoints.–Laurie von Mehren, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brecksville, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. "A mother and daughter should be a team. It isn't that way with us," says 12-year-old Maya, who has traveled with her mother to Chennai, in southern India, to sell her grandfather's house after his death. Maya is still furious and raw after her parents' divorce a year before, and so she is happy to spend less time with her distracted, depressed mother and more time with bossy, grandmotherly Mami, who cared for Maya's mother as a child. As Maya explores the city with Mami or a friendly cousin, she starts to feel less bewildered by her family's breakup. Maya's first-person voice seems occasionally too wise, and her story is somewhat overpowered by a growing crisis with Mami's health. But Krishnaswami evokes the "maddening, dazzling place" with rich, poetic imagery, and she beautifully captures Maya's shift from anger that "has simmered so long it has become a friend" to appreciation, understanding, and love. For more novels about Indian culture, see Ilene Cooper's Read-Alikes column, "Out of India" [BKL S 15 03]. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (April 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374354855
• ISBN-13: 978-0374354855
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,289,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Uma Krishnaswami is the author of many books for children. She is also on the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful story of family struggle, May 17, 2004

By 

A Customer (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Naming Maya (Hardcover)

Contrary to her wishes, Maya is spending part of her summer in Chennai, India while her mother is trying to sell her grandfather's old house. To make the summer more enjoyable, Maya keeps herself busy by taking pictures of surroundings and making friends with her cousin Sumati and Kamala Mami, a housekeeper and cook in Maya's extended family.

At the same time though, she starts thinking about a sea of painful memories that are incomprehensible to her. Her parents' divorce particularly troubles her. She still wishes to have a whole family again, and she thinks that their separation was her fault because of the name she was given. For years the tension has produced a number of varying emotions. It gets worse when Kamala Mami is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Maya can't deal with the stress any longer. Will the tension in her family ever stop? Will she ever have a whole family again?

NAMING MAYA provides some valuable insight into what life is like in India. Sadly, it also reminded me of how debilitating Alzheimer's disease can be to one's mind. When Maya finds out that Kamala Mami has the disease, I felt her pain since I had to go through the same thing with some of my family members. NAMING MAYA is a compelling novel that I will remember for a long time to come.

--- (...)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A view of two cultures, November 17, 2004

By 

bhr "birdwoman" (Bryn Mawr, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Naming Maya (Hardcover)

What is life like for second generation teenagers? What is life like for the children of divorce? This book takes on both questions through the eyes of Maya, an American child living (temporarily) in India, her mother's and father's homeland.

I loved the pictures of India that this book brought to my mind. The descriptions of the food, the sights, the smells - so evocative! The characters are drawn through the eyes of Maya, and so they are not so easily understood. As Maya learns, so does gentle reader. It's a good book, a good story. Worth the time to read it.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written story, April 27, 2005

By 

CM Ramirez (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Naming Maya (Hardcover)

Well put together story that encompasses a young girl's dealing with her parents'divorce while learning about her cousins' home of India. Author cleverly drops in details of life in India in such a way as to be part of the story. Good learning tool for pre-teen, young teenage readers.