Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman
I had no idea what Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman was about when I put it on hold at the library. It was chosen for my Children’s Literature Book Club (we were reading all Beehive Award nominees) and being the dutiful member that I am put it on hold but failed to actually look up what the book was about. So it was with a little thrill when I picked it up and read the dust jacket cover: Fifteen-year-old Vidya dreams of going to college, an unusual proposition for a girl living in British-occupied India during World War II.
And to tell you the truth that’s all of the jacket copy I read. Because I tend to only read the first sentence of jacket covers in fear of knowing too much about the book. But that was just enough to make me anxious to dive into the book right away. A book set during World War II. Score! A book set in India during World War II? Double score! I’ve never read a book set in India during the war that I can recall.
Let me go ahead and share the rest of the summary from the dust jacket with you. Simply because I’ve written three reviews in a row tonight and well, despite my own avoidance of them, this particular summary does a fine job.
When tragedy strikes, Vidya and her brother, Kitta, are forced to move into a traditional household with their grandfather and their extended family, where men live separately upstairs and the women who live below are meant to be married, not educated.
Breaking the rules, Vidya finds refuge in her grandfather’s second-floor library. There she meets Raman, a young man also living in the house. Surprisingly, he treats her like and equal and encourages her intellectual curiosity. But soon it’s clear Raman wants more than just friendship, and when Kitta makes a shocking choice the family cannon condone, Vidya’s life becomes a whirlwind of personal and political complications. Will she be strong enough to survive the storm?
What a wonderful book. I loved Vidya sneaking upstairs and reading Oliver Twist, Hans Brinker, Ivanhoe, Pride and Prejudice, The Mayor of Castorbridge and more. I loved how Vidya defied all conventions that was expected of her. She desperately wanted to go to college, she did not want to get married young, and she wanted to be treated as an equal with her male counterparts. I hated that women in her society were meant only to serve the men. Vidya wanted so much and stood up for her rights. I love a girl who can stand up for herself. I desperately wanted to see her hopes and dreams come true.
A great historical fiction novel set in India. It was wonderful.
Links of interest: Padma Venkatraman website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile. May 1, 2008.
Hardcover, 256 pages. ISBN 0399247467
Climbing the Stairs is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.
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Category: Book Reviews, Fiction, Young Adult
Tags: A-D Title, India, published 2008, U-Z Author
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Sounds like a good one, for many reasons!
on October 16th, 2009 at 8:44 amThis would be great for my WWII participants! Fantastic find. good review. I’m going to check it out sometime soon.
on October 16th, 2009 at 9:07 amI love the sound of this — books, India, WWII, and difficult choices. I think I’ll save this for Swapna’s challenge.
on October 16th, 2009 at 9:25 amIt sounds really good. I love the cover art! That is kind of interesting really. I have never seen a book about the WWII perspective from India before. Cool.
on October 16th, 2009 at 9:39 amI love, love, loved this one!
on October 16th, 2009 at 10:21 amOh, my, I missed this one as well; it is now on the TBR list and I doubt it will stay there long…you have me intrigued, Natasha!
on October 16th, 2009 at 11:59 amThis sounds great. I’ve added it to my wishlist – thanks so much!
on October 16th, 2009 at 1:40 pmSounds really good! The setting & theme remind me a little of the YA novel Homeless Bird. I’ll have to check this one out. Thanks for sharing your review, and it was good seeing you the other night!
on October 16th, 2009 at 2:30 pmI love it when I grab a book without knowing what it is truly about and then get that plesant little surprise!
This sounds really good!
on October 16th, 2009 at 3:11 pmI was actually going to pose a question about reading the back covers! I rarely read them–and I actually don’t like reading bloggers’ summaries either. I like going into books knowing as little as possible about the actual book–I just want to know what the person thought. Anyway…
I love the cover of this book!
on October 17th, 2009 at 8:39 pmWord Lily – For the perspective alone, it’s a great book.
Serena – I immediately thought about the challenge when I picked this one up.
Beth F. – A perfect book for Swapna’s challenge. I do hope you read it.
Amy – The cover art is beautiful.
Becky – Oh yay! I’m going to go back and look for your review right now. I missed it.
Rasco – Oh good. That’s my job, right?
Swapna – You’re welcome!
Becky – I *think* I have Homeless Bird on my shelf right now. I’m going to have to check.
Jenn M. – That’s what I love about book clubs. They always introduce me to books that I would have missed.
Trish – If I look at the back cover it’s usually to only read the first sentence. I’ll go back after I’ve read the book to see how the publisher interpreted the book compared to how I thought it was. I like to also know as little as possible about a book but just enough to know if it’s the type of book that I’d enjoy or not. So same thing with bloggers summaries – I’ll skim quickly glossing over the details or read just the first couple of sentences.
on October 17th, 2009 at 8:52 pmI heard some buzz about this book last year and added it to my list but never got around to reading it. Thanks for reminding me about it. Maybe I’ll try and get a copy at the library this week.
on October 18th, 2009 at 10:17 amHello,
).
on October 18th, 2009 at 3:38 pmquite strange to read the little message at the end of your review, I do not know if it is written here for me and I will perhaps seem like a fool (”Hey you, Blog do NOT talk to people”
Just in case, I am a french woman living in Paris. I am writing a blog about my readings, the movies I liked and some other subjects and I am trying to improve my english by reading several blogs (+ Books, + Newspaper, …) in English, and guess what, your blog is on my netvibes page!!!
I’ve never heard of this one but it sure sounds like a good read. I’m definitely going to be checking this one out from the library at some point. Isn’t it great when you find a great book and you aren’t expecting it??
on October 18th, 2009 at 7:18 pmThis one does sound very good. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I love discovering new reads on blogs!
on October 19th, 2009 at 12:46 am[...] as I hopped around the blogesphere I landed at Maw Books where Natasha shared a book that is drop dead gorgeous – inside and outside! Climbing The [...]
on October 19th, 2009 at 7:15 amThis looks incredible-I love books set in India.
on October 19th, 2009 at 10:40 pm