When you think of a superhero you don't exactly conjure up the image of 12 year old Aru Shah. Aru is struggling to feel like she belongs. There are all those kids at school who make her feel as though she isn't quite good enough. Her mother seems to spend all of her time working on her museum leaving Aru to find her own fun. Then the day comes when Aru just doesn't want to put up with the condescension and put downs any more. That's the day she's in her familiar place at the museum and to her shock, three kids from her school...three cool kids... are there too. This is her culture. This is her world...or at least it's her mother's world so you can well understand when she does it... she decides she's going to show those kids they don't know everything. She is going to show them that the Lamp of Bharata that they are unimpressed by is actually incredibly powerful. In a moment of anger and frustration Aru lights the lamp.
That's when the world changes for Aru. That's when these three adversaries and her own mother are suddenly frozen in time. That's when the door opens wide to another world...a world where she is a Pandavi.... and she finds her sister, Mimi, a sister she has never known...and the two of them armed with who they truly are, their fears, and their hopes are going to have to figure out how to stop the Sleeper, a demon she has awakened.
This is a hilarious, action-packed journey spiced with Hindu mythology. For those who loved Rick Riordan's series based in Greek, Roman and Norse mythologies, here is a new exotic world of adventure to explore. The characters could be you and your best friend. How will you fight these incredible powers? What powers will you discover in yourself along the way?
Funny, exotic, and balancing two fascinating worlds to explore: your own powers and the wonder of the grand mythology of India. Add the unusual guide who has been summoned to accompany you through this world of gods and goddesses and a journey filled with surprises awaits.
368 pages 978-1368012355 Ages 8-12
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
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Best-selling author Rick Riordan introduces this adventure by Roshani Chokshi about twelve-year-old Aru Shah, who has a tendency to stretch the truth in order to fit in at school. While her classmates are jetting off to family vacations in exotic locales, she'll be spending her autumn break at home, in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, waiting for her mom to return from her latest archeological trip. Is it any wonder that Aru makes up stories about being royalty, traveling to Paris, and having a chauffeur?
One day, three schoolmates show up at Aru's doorstep to catch her in a lie. They don't believe her claim that the museum's Lamp of Bharata is cursed, and they dare Aru to prove it. Just a quick light, Aru thinks. Then she can get herself out of this mess and never ever fib again.
But lighting the lamp has dire consequences. She unwittingly frees the Sleeper, an ancient demon whose duty it is to awaken the God of Destruction. Her classmates and beloved mother are frozen in time, and it's up to Aru to save them.
The only way to stop the demon is to find the reincarnations of the five legendary Pandava brothers, protagonists of the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata, and journey through the Kingdom of Death. But how is one girl in Spider-Man pajamas supposed to do all that?--from the publisher
