A mix of recently published fiction and non-fiction books for middle graders that are perfect to stay at home with

There’s another epicentre of upheaval in her life. Her neighbour and friend Tina, whom Noorie adores and whose whims dominate her life. But as Noorie is to discover to her peril, uneven relationships that teeter on the verge of bullying are not quite friendships. They can upend your lives and relationships easily.

In her first book, Simply Nanju, Sulaiman had written about children who are differently abled and finds themselves on the margins of society. Witty and empathetic, Simply Nanju had made a powerful case for inclusion. In Who’s Afraid of a Giant Wheel, Sulaiman turns her attention to the inner life of a child and the impact of difficult friendships and troubled family life that shape their coming of age. Sulaiman writes with compassion and sensitivity of the emotional rollercoaster that children undergo and the way sensible adult counsel might prepare them for the life to come.

The Great Poop War
Ranjit Lal
Red Panda
135 pages
Rs 275
Appropriate for : 8+ years

The Great Poop War (Amazon.in)

If it’s a Ranjit Lal novel, then you can rest assured that it’s going to be a romp of a read. The Great Poop War takes place at Sparkling Apartments when the threat of COVID-19 is on the wane. Sparkling Apartments has always been renowned for its extraordinary cleanliness measure even before the pandemic and the stringent measures its RWA undertook during the pandemic has become something of a contemporary civic lore, winning it the Cleanest Cooperative Housing Society Award for four years in a row. But unbeknown to the residents, trouble is brewing and it erupts one fine morning when RWA President Gangajal Badrinathji steps on a steaming pile of poop outside his door. All hell breaks loose as pet owners come under suspicion. Could it be the canine contingent who is it to be blamed for this or the feline faction who is the real culprit? As the war of words heats up and poop continues to waylay unsuspecting residents, 14-year-olds Bharat and Parvati take it upon themselves to unmask the culprit and save the pets, who, it is decided at long last, would be banned from the complex to retrieve its past sanitation glory.

Lal’s writing is effortlessly funny and draws a chuckle a minute with his tongue-in-cheek references to contemporary social and political life. The excesses of RWA managements, the tenor of political speeches and the tendency to arrive at the least optimal solution for problems big and small all find mention here. More than the solution to the scatological mystery, it is this journey to the denouement that makes Lal’s novel the most fun.

Taatung Tatung And Other Amazing Stories of India’s Diverse Languages
Vaishali Shroff
Puffin Books
184 pages
Rs 299
Appropriate for: 12+ years

Taatung Tatung And Other Amazing Stories of India’s Diverse Languages (Amazon.in)

The 2000-odd residents of Mattur, a village in Karnataka’s Shivamogga district, about 300 km from Bengaluru, are all proficient in Sanskrit, going to great lengths to preserve the ancient language. So while they also speak Kannada or Sankethi, a dialect of Kannada, they ensure that Sanskrit is also used as a means of everyday communication and not just relegated to the realm of prayers and worship.

The censorship and stigmatisation of the intersex community by the British during their rule in India gave birth to the necessity of a secret language for the community. Known as Hijra Farsi (used among the Muslim intersex community in the Indian subcontinent and Gupti language or Ulti Bhasha (used by the Hindu trans community), this is a language that gives the community identity, security and a secret currency of communication.

Centuries apart, three men — two rulers and a government official — would give India a script that would form the basis of “every modern Indian script and several scripts in Southeast Asia”: the Brahmi script. In the aftermath of the Kalinga War when emperor Ashoka turned to Buddhism, he had the Buddha’s messages inscribed on pillars, rocks and caves. The Brahmi inscriptions would later be found by Feroz Shah Tughlak circa 14th century CE, who would have the pillars taken to his capital Delhi. Five hundred years later, a 20-year old James Prinsep, employee of Calcutta Mint, would come across ancient Indian coins and be intrigued by the inscriptions on them. When he came across the Ashokan pillars, his curiosity would be further piqued. It was his persistence that would finally bring the Brahmi script to the world’s attention.

Languages — their creation and erasure and the politics of it — form the basis of Vaishali Shroff’s Taatung Tatung. Well researched and lucidly told, the book throws light on the shapeshifting history of Indian languages, with emphasis on the efforts being made to protect marginalised languages such as the Great Andamanese one. Rich in trivia and with a bibliography that suggests further reading, this is an important, enriching book.

Strange Stories from History: Live History India
Edited by Mini Menon
HarperCollins Children’s Books
208 pages
Rs 299
Appropriate for: 10+ years

Strange Stories from History: Live History India (Amazon.in)

Quite the opposite of Shroff’s book but no less enjoyable, the second book of the Quirky History series focuses on the many bizarre myths, legends and findings from history. From how Kashmir came to be formed on the bed of what was once a ginormous lake to how mangoes were “tamed” 2,000 years ago into the beloved fruit of royals — ranging from Asoka to Akbar — and ascetics, such as the Jains and Buddhists, this book is a treasure trove of fun facts and information that do not usually feature in mainstream history book.