The narrative is beautifully attuned to a child’s perspective and the striking red background to the highly dynamic illustrations increases the story’s impact, especially as the depictions of the narrator and her two sisters are endearingly pixie-like. Because the only clue to the narrator’s identity is through these abstract illustrations, in which she is in fact a girl, this story can feel relevant to both girls and boys. Having said that, though, looking at the publisher’s page about the book, it refers to the narrator as “he”… and, this being a bilingual book, it may be that this ambiguity is only in the English and not in the Filipino, which I don’t read…

When the inevitable question comes up: why can’t her parents live together in the same house, both Mama and Papa give imaginative and comprehensible answers – and at the end, they come together to share in their child’s sixth-birthday celebrations.

This is a beautifully reassuring book, both for children trying to make sense of their parents’ separation; and for children who may be trying to understand what is happening in their friends’ lives – and not forgetting parents who are striving to provide security in the aftermath of such a situation. In an end-note, author Jean Lee C. Patindol explains how the story came into being following some insensitive remarks from neigbours to her five-year-old-son after her own separation: and how she struggled “to find a way to explain to my children that, even with our unusual family setup, they are still very much loved.” Through this story she has certainly succeeded in doing so, not only for her own children but universally.

Papa’s House, Mama’s House was the 2004 Grand Winner of both the PBBY Salanga Prize (for writers) and the PBBY Alcala Prize (for illustrators). You can read a full review here, as part of our current focus on the Philippines. And I must just point you towards the latest post on Jean a.k.a. Jeanette’s blog, in which she relates a conversation with her nine-year-old daughter…

As Naming Maya unfolds, many of its readers are presented with a new country, new codes of behavior, new flavors, smells, and daily landscapes. The taste of “honey and chili powder” mingled on the tongue, milk delivered by bringing a cow to a doorstep and milking it in view of the person who is soon to drink it, listening to the call of a brain-fever bird, seeing a tree that is adorned with flowers, coins, and a statue of ” the plump, cheery elephant-headed god, Ganesha,” these things are all vividly described and give a glimpse of Chennai, India.

Or it does for me. How about you? As you read, do you see Maya’s new world, and experience her confusion? Do the differing values of her mother’s home country that frustrate this New Jersey girl become clear as the book progresses? And is memory a gift or a curse?

As the Tiger’s Bookshelf progresses on its own adventure of searching for readers who will take part in our online book group, the question persists of how do non-virtual, more conventional book groups solve the dilemma of having members take voice in their group discussions? If you belong to a book group that has found solutions to the silence, please let us know! How do you entice the shyest, least confident members to voice their opinions and express their thoughts?

Maya is one miserable New Jersey girl. Instead of spending the summer with her friend Joanie, she’s in India, the homeland of her parents, with her mother. Maya’s grandfather has died, her mother has inherited his house and is spending every waking moment trying to sell it, with little time left for Maya.

Every time I come to India, it’s like entering another world,” Maya complains, adding to a cousin, “I’m American here, but in America, I’m Indian.” Nobody understands, her mother is busy, and Kamala Mami, the housekeeper who is Maya’s constant companion, lapses frequently into her own strange and invisible world. Maya spends much of her time with her own thoughts, mourning the loss of her father, who moved far away after her mother divorced him.

As Kamala Mami becomes more and more immersed in memories of the past and less attached to the present, Maya leaves her own world of idealized memories to help the old woman whom she has learned to love. How can she bring Mami back to be with her? How can she break through the barrier of loss that separates her from her mother?

Please join us in reading and discussing this wonderful novel. Don’t like it? Tell us why–just don’t give away the ending!