Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Good news for Anjali Banerjee

We can all give a shout to acknowledge the release of Anjali Banerjee's third children's novel with Wendy Lamb Books/Random House, SEAGLASS SUMMER (middle grade). It's due out May 11 and she already has a great Booklist Review (see below). The book was chosen as one of six Random House Children's Books titles to be included in the May/June issue of Scholastic's Instructor Magazine (circulation 143,542).

Stay tuned for her events. And check out her website here.


From ALA Booklist, March 1, 2010

Seaglass Summer.
Banerjee, Anjali (Author)
May 2010. 176 p. Random/Wendy Lamb, hardcover, $15.99. (9780385735674).
Random/Wendy Lamb,
library edition, $18.99. (9780385905558).

Eleven-year-old Poppy wants to be a veterinarian like her uncle Sanjay. So while her parents are in India visiting relatives, she spends several weeks with him on Nisqually Island, Washington, helping out at his Furry Friends Animal Clinic. Episodic chapters focus on the people and animals that Poppy meets, her efforts to do a good job, no matter what’s thrown at her, and the difficulty she encounters in balancing dreams against some harsh realities. One terrific thing about this book is that there’s no talking down, either to Poppy or the reader. Everything’s on the table, from Sanjay’s father’s negative reaction to his son’s career choice to the limits of care a vet can provide when a pet is terminal. There are many moving events here, and only the hardest of hearts won’t soften when Poppy tries to comfort an elderly man whose beloved cat is being put down. Sometimes amusing, sometimes gross, and always true to itself, this should find a wide readership. Pencil illustrations enliven the chapter headings.
— Ilene Cooper

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