Saturday, May 30, 2009

Looking For Bapu


I am happy to report that my inventory at school is going rather well. I am not done yet, but can see a light at the end of the tunnel. I also managed to finish Looking for Bapu by Anjali Banarjee this morning while sitting at the library with my girls who were busy playing in the child-size house at the library. Anu's grandfather, Bapu, dies unexpectedly while the two are on a nature walk. Even though Anu rushes to find help for his grandfather, it is too late, and Bapu passes away. The weird thing is, Anu still sees Bapu from time to time and hears him, too. He knows his parents won't understand this at all. Anu and Bapu had a rather special bond and Bapu spent a great deal of time explaining his beliefs about the spirits to his grandson. Anu decides to look for his grandfather. In this process he manages to get the help of two friends who go along with Anu for this adventure. While Bapu is gone for good, and Anu does eventually realize this, he also comes to some understanding about his parents and Bapu's death. I thought the message in this book was good....there were parts of the story that were not horribly engaging to me, and I feel like my middle grade readers would become disinterested/confused with the talk of the different spirits and gods. However, I really did enjoy the ending and the resolution Banarjee provided for Anu.

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