Vanished [Hardcover]

Sheela Chari (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 26, 2011 | Age Range: 8 and up | Lexile Measure: 630L (What's this?)

Eleven-year-old Neela dreams of being a famous musician, performing for admiring crowds on her traditional Indian stringed instrument. Her particular instrument was a gift from her grandmother—intricately carved with a mysterious-looking dragon. 

When this special family heirloom vanishes from a local church, strange clues surface: a tea kettle ornamented with a familiar pointy-faced dragon, a threatening note, a connection to a famous dead musician, and even a legendary curse. The clues point all the way to India, where it seems that Neela’s instrument has a long history of vanishing and reappearing. Even if Neela does track it down, will she be able to stop it from disappearing again?

Sheela Chari’s debut novel is a finely tuned story of coincidence and fate, trust and deceit, music and mystery.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sheela Chari (www.sheelachari.com) was born in Bangalore, India, and has lived in Iowa, Washington State, California, Massachusetts, and New York. She holds an MFA degree in Creative Writing from New York University. This is her first novel.

Product Details

• Age Range: 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Book CH (July 26, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423131630
• ISBN-13: 978-1423131632
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1.1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #436,850 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sheela Chari has degrees from Stanford University, Boston University, and New York University, where she received an MFA in creative writing. Her novel, VANISHED, was named as a 2012 Children's Literature Honor Book by the Asian Pacific-American Library association, and was nominated for an Edgar award for best juvenile mystery. She lives in New York with her husband and two daughters. VANISHED is her first novel. Visit her online at www.sheelachari.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A girl stuck between two worlds July 27, 2011

By S. Power TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Vanished by Sheela Chari stars Neela an Indian American who must solve a huge mystery when her Veena vanishes. Neela brings her Veena (a traditional Indian instrument) to school to show her music class as they study world instruments. While walking home she ducks into a church to escape the rain and stows her Veena in a closet. When she leaves she finds that her Veena has vanished. Neela's Veena was a gift from her grandmother in India and she finds out many special things while searching for it.

I enjoyed reading about Neela's life. Her parents are immigrants and she has to learn how to be both an American girl and an Indian daughter and her more traditional cousin. I didn't however love the story. It wasn't a light and easy read like I expect for books written for this age group. It seemed more like one of those books that's on your teachers bookshelf that you read because there isn't much to choose from. It's interesting enough but not anything that you would pick to read on your own.

Appropriateness: I would recommend this book to readers from 10-14. There is nothing that parents would find objectionable in the book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Multi-cultural Mystery, for girls and boys of any race September 15, 2011

By Jennifer Donovan TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

Neela is 11. She does well in school, she loves music and potato chips. Her little brother is kind of pesky, her dad tells corny jokes, and her mom has been known to wear some outrageous outfits on laundry day. Sounds just like you, right? The one difference is that Neela is Indian American.

In Vanished, the author Sheela Chari does just what her mom encourages Neela to do with her new American life: Take the best that both cultures have to offer. Be both Indian and American.

I love that about this story. Yes, Neela and her family are a little different. Their names are different, some of the foods they eat are different, and visiting grandma doesn't mean a long car trip, but an overseas plane trip to India. The music she loves is played on a veena, an old-fashioned Indian instrument. But it is because kids will also relate to this family that they will learn to appreciate some of the differences, or perhaps they won't even seem any different than the fact that one sibling likes pepperoni pizza and the other likes cheese.

Vanished isn't a preachy tale meant to raise awareness, or a novel with a multi-cultural agenda built in, but because the main character is different than your standard middle-class American child, it's an opportunity to absorb some culture. That's one reason I love to read multi-cultural literature myself, and I think that the same stands for this middle-grade novel.

NOTE TO PARENTS: There's nothing objectionable in this book for older middle grade readers. There is one mild swear word spoken by an adult, and narrator Neela even comments how she felt grown up to be trusted with such language, indicating that she knows it's not an 11-year-old word. That made this book feel even more authentic to me, because in fact they do hear swear words quite frequently. This book felt very plot-heavy. It held my interest as an adult. Some of the things involved in their search for the veena were a bit of a stretch from reality, but that makes it a fun adventure! I would recommend Vanished to a more mature reader (10 and up) who enjoys this type of read.

I was a little disappointed that the cover seems to white-washed, which is pretty common in books featuring people of color. Why not give lovely Neela a bit of a tan? At best, she looks like a light-skinned Hispanic. Regardless, it's nice to see novels that truly represent the changing face of American culture, such as this one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Mystery Debut August 14, 2011

By DAC VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Neela brings her instrument, a veena to her sixth grade class for the around the world unit. On the way home there's a very bad rainstorm. Neela is offered shelter from the rain by an old man in a church. She's very uneasy about not being able to take her valuable veena straight home. Also the old man is a little strange. The two have an odd conversation in the kitchen. When Neela goes to leave her veena is missing and the man has disappeared.

The veena is very special and rare it was a gift from Neela's grandmother in India. Neela is determined to find her instrument even after her parents tell her to stop.

I enjoyed Vanished a lot and loved Neela's voice. It was also nice to see Neela's parents and younger brother, Seri were a part in the story.

"Like strep throat or the chicken pox, or the Great Plague which Neela read about in social studies, bad luck was one of those things are one of those things are mother tried at great length to avoid. She was training to be a pharmacist, and it was her belief that all human experience was the result of chemistry and luck, good and bad. But mostly bad. Neela's father would always exclaim that's so unscientific. But there was no changing her mother's opinion. Bad luck was an impenetrable force working against them all. Worst of all it was contagious."

Since the suspect list is small, I liked that the other doesn't throw in too many red herrings. The mystery lies more in the how and why the veena was stolen. The story moves along at a great clip. There's a nice hint of creepy and unexplained darkness. The age old curse on the missing veena adds to this feeling. Neela slowly connects the clues and everything comes together in India.

Neela reminded me of Glida Joyce. Both characters have a certain similar quailty that I love. Vanished was a well layered story that was simply a lot of fun. An excellent debut and one of my favorites of the year. I hope this is the first of many books starring Neela Krishnan.