Bijal Vachharajani admits she is a slow and reluctant writer but I think, the books she writes are so worth the wait! She stops by on Tell Me A Story to talk about her climate-fiction novels, A Cloud Called Bhura and her latest, Savi and the Memory Keeper. In this very candid chat, she reveals many things -- why she believes magic is all around us, how she reached deep within herself to write Savi, and the question she would like to ask Tree! You don't want to miss this one! HIT PLAY NOW!
Review of Savi and the Memory Keeper
Savi and the Memory Keeper, by Bijal Vachharajani, illustrated by Rajiv Eipe
Rarely does a children's book come around that makes you research terms, phenomena, and look up fascinating facts. Savi and the Memory Keeper led me multiple times down the rabbit hole and I come away enriched from reading this book.
Savi and the Memory Keeper is a book primarily about a girl coping with the loss of her father but then it is so much more than that. After the loss of her father, Savi's mother moves the family to Shajarpur, the only place in India not affected by climate change. As her family deals with loss in their own individual ways, Savi finds herself taking care of her father's plants. She detests everything about the new city except for a big ficus tree in her school. Soon, strange things begin to happen every time she touches Tree or the plants that will change the way she sees Shajarpur, her friends, and even how she remembers her father.
If you need a book to make your child fall in love with nature and look beyond the scientific aspect of climate change, then this book would be it. It is packed with information that is equal parts scientific and humanistic. The appeal of the book for me lies in the relatable characters the author creates and the casual, trendy writing style peppered with words and motifs kids today are familiar with. There is so much to love in the book but I ❤️ Bekku and Cucumber Tendril boy!
Savi and the Memory Keeper is a fascinatingly moving book about love, loss, climate change and caring for the environment and shows that Bijal Vachharajani is an exciting author to read in the children's cli-fi genre. After Cloud called Bhura, she gives us another book that changes something in your soul. You begin reading and then slowly realise you are invested in the characters. Illustrator Rajiv Eipe mentioned that this was the book he was most excited about on #tellmeastory and I can now understand why!
To listen to all the episodes on Tell Me A Story, simply click here. I hope you enjoyed reading this newsletter, I know I had fun putting it together for you! If you like what you read, please consider sharing it with a friend who will benefit. Help a parent raise a reader and tell them about Mother Of Readers! Who knows you just might be blessed with good book karma for life!
Rati Girish
Instagram: @Mother_of_readers
Bijal Vachharajani on Savi and the Memory Keeper and writing climate-fiction for children