Naming Maya - Hardcover

Krishnaswami, Uma

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374354855 ISBN 13: 9780374354855

Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2004

Synopsis

When Maya accompanies her mother to India to sell her grandfather's house, she uncovers family history relating to her parents divorce and learns more about herself and her relationship with her mother.

About this title

About the Author

Uma Krishnaswami was born in New Delhi, India, and now lives in Aztec, New Mexico. She is the author of several books for children, including Monsoon.

Reviews

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
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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

Edition details

• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0374354855
• ISBN 13: 9780374354855
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192