Bound To Stay Bound

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Booklist - 11/01/2015 Sixth-grader Maya has already traveled from California to Karachi, Pakistan, nine times to visit her grandparents, but this trip will be different: her nanabba (grandfather) has passed away. After the funeral, her grandmother will be returning to California with them, but first Naniamma intends to go to India and retrieve valuables hidden by her family when they fled to Pakistan during Partition. Maya and her sister, Zara, persuade Naniamma to let them join her, but their trip is complicated when Naniamma requires hospitalization, and Maya is later kidnapped by men that run a criminal gang of orphans. What starts as a realistic exploration of grief and family history turns into an exciting action adventure, though one with some contrived turns. Senzai’s novel is packed with fascinating information about the complex history and culture of India and Pakistan, though it’s often forced into stiff dialogue or related through Maya’s didactic journal entries. The blend of emotional journey and fast-paced thriller may be uneven, but it still brings attention to an underrepresented culture in an appealing way. - Copyright 2015 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 12/01/2015 Gr 4–7—After her grandfather's death, sixth-grader Maya travels with her mother and older sister from San Francisco to Karachi to help wind up her grandmother's affairs in Pakistan. Before leaving for the States, Maya's grandmother Alia hopes to embark on a secret trip to India in order to retrieve valuable heirlooms left behind decades earlier, when her family fled the country during Partition. Maya and her sister discover their grandmother's plans and blackmail her into bringing them along. In New Delhi, their mission is waylaid when Alia is hospitalized for a serious illness; determined to see their grandmother's dream to its end, the girls continue on their own. Senzai uses Maya's journal to fill readers in on the complex backstory of India and Pakistan's fraught relationship, but the entries are overly didactic, lacking true reflection and an authentic tween voice. Confusingly, Maya is able to relate obscure facts about India's railway system but cannot recall the name of the iconic Taj Mahal. An unlikely subplot involving street urchins and kidnapping verges on cliché, ultimately downplaying the novel's emotional depth. VERDICT Though more books for middle graders about Indian culture and history are needed, this one fails to satisfy.—Lalitha Nataraj, Escondido Public Library, CA - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

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