In a small village, a relatively successful farmer's daughter's wedding is interrupted by nationalist bandits who 'ask' for donations. The setting is near Calcutta (Kolkata, now) in 1939, as India's independence struggle heats up and WWII is starting in Europe. It's still aimed at the 12 to 14 year old audience, but it carries a lot of freight. This novel, by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, is much less so. Their stories are generally speaking easements of real history. Not that I haven't bought a ton of their books for my nieces when they were younger, as well as a doll or two etc. The content is so far beyond their cutesy 'history'.

It is completely bizarre that this book is part of the American Girl merchandise empire. Teach your children that doing the right thing is the way to go.Īll of the mentioned titles can be found easily on Ebay, Amazon, or a used book store such as Half Price Books. If you want your kids to learn more from their books, have them read this series or Dear America, Horrible Histories, Royal Diaries. Neela is strong and can kick ass at a young age. Would I rather it be Kathleen, the first girl I had an adventure with? No. I own one doll of the eight that go with the books and it is Neela. I was impressed by the way there seemed to be no holding back with this series, where the American Girl series sets limits to not upset parents with their child's reading material. Instead of Molly having a victory garden and talking a little about a war, some of the girls in the Girls of Many Lands series are involved in a war happening in their own country or neighborhood. First of all, only one of the girls featured is American and this series deals with grittier subject matter. This series is vastly different from American Girl. I read this in the fourth grade while my mom was in a meeting.

Neela by Troy Howell