SarahJanet's Books

The Conch Bearer

The Conch Bearer, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

First of all, how much do I rule? I typed that author’s name correctly on the first try without looking it up! Clearly I’m starting to memorize my spiels for YRCA book talks. This is an intermediate title for YRCA this year, and it’s one that I enjoyed far more than I anticipated I would. It’s set in India, and as a result has a mouthful of names that are a total bitch to discuss in book talk presentations. (Still better than going to a Polish immersion school with a book about a Polish girl and getting mocked for your lousy pronunciation, though.)

It’s about a magical conch shell (I know, it’s better than it sounds, I swear) and a boy named Anand. Part of what made it really appealing was the ending – it was very unexpected for the style of the book and even though I knew what would happen (the perils of not finishing all the YRCA books before you go to the workshop), it was still surprising and a good twist on what otherwise would have been a slightly formulaic story. (Of course, it also sets things up much better for the sequel.)

Some of the characters, especially the evil ones, are a little one-dimensional, and the wise wizard is a little too Gandalf for my liking, but the setting makes it different enough from all the other similar books that I’ve read, and I enjoyed the concept a great deal. (It also felt, at times, a little bit like an episode of the Amazing Race but with a magic conch shell. Which might be what TAR needs this season – it’s been a little slow.)

posted by SarahJanet @ 3:02 PM