Dancing in Thatha's Footsteps


Book Description

On Sundays, Varun has his karate lesson, and his sister Varsha heads to dance school with their grandfather. One weekend, Varun reluctantly accompanies his sister to her lesson. Bored of waiting, he peeks into the classroom, and almost immediately, he is fascinated by the rhythm and grace of bharatanatyam, a dance from India that Varsha is learning to perfect. Varun tries a few moves at home in secret because...well, boys don’t dance, do they? His grandfather is not so sure. Will Thatha be able to convince Varun to dance in his footsteps? A heartwarming picture book about a multigenerational Indian-American family discovering a shared love for bharatanatyam, an ancient classical dance that continues to fascinate dancers worldwide.




Paper Castles


Book Description

Foreclosures are hitting record highs; unemployment is skyrocketing, and the economy is in shambles. Equally broke and futureless, 28-year-old James Brooke, a graduate architect, coffee-addict, and self-described average nobody has returned to his small hometown in West Ohio. Torn between his fanciful dreams and the need to pay off bills, he struggles to find his own identity while facing a harder-than-ever reality. But living under his father's rooftop while keeping his head in the clouds soon turns out to be a bad combination, and the mounting student debt forces him to settle for any job he can find. That's when he stumbles across a new coffee shop, a wayward girl with a talent for storytelling, and his own unresolved past. This unexpected set of things could help him figure out what his place in the world is-if that place even exists. Paper Castles is a story about the search for meaning in times when everything seems meaningless.




Inside Out & Back Again


Book Description

Moving to America turns H&à's life inside out. For all the 10 years of her life, H&à has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by, and the beauty of her very own papaya tree. But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. H&à and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, H&à discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape, and the strength of her very own family. This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.




Kindness Starts with You - At School


Book Description

Kindness is the single most powerful thing that we can teach our children. Follow Maddy through her day at school, where your child will learn how easy it can be to spread kindness! From taking turns on the swing to including everyone in the game - this storybook shows that no act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. A lightbulb lesson of kindness is found on each page! Included in the book is a Weekly Kindness Challenge to help encourage your child to: Say Sorry, Be Polite, Take Turns, Be a Helping Hand, Include Others, and Show Respect. If you value raising kind kids that make the world a better place, then this book is for you!




Funny Boy


Book Description

In this remarkable debut novel, a boy’s bittersweet passage to maturity and sexual awakening is set against escalating political tensions in Sri Lanka, during the seven years leading up to the 1983 riots. Arjie Chelvaratnam is a Tamil boy growing up in an extended family in Colombo. It is through his eyes that the story unfolds and we meet a delightful, sometimes eccentric cast of characters. Arjie’s journey from the luminous simplicity of childhood days into the more intricately shaded world of adults – with its secrets, its injustices, and its capacity for violence – is a memorable one, as time and time again the true longings of the human heart are held against the way things are.




The Tree Boy


Book Description




A Civil Servant in Burma


Book Description




Bharata Natyam Adavus


Book Description

This book, elucidates the basic steps called Adavus of Bharata Natyam in the traditional Pandanallur style, as taught by the revered Gurus Sri Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai and Sri Muthukumara Pillai, to Sri T.K Narayan and Smt. Jayalakshmi Narayan, parents of the author. It is an honest attempt to explain the various steps with unerring and accurate execution technique. The book offers a visual representation of the Adavus with the help of stick diagrams in a sequential manner so that the beginners and practitioners can understand the finer points of each movement. The author has developed simple schematics to show the various moves, such as jump, stretch, turn, hit etc. The author endeavours to illustrate Adavus in a precise manner in this book. Classification and categorization of each step is the salient feature of this work. Gayathri Keshavan makes a humble effort to pass on the knowledge of this ancient and sacred art to the present and future generations of Bharata Natyam dancers.




In the Same Boat


Book Description

In the Same Boat is the hugely entertaining blend of romance and thrilling adventure that you never knew you needed. It's the eve of the Texas River Odyssey, and Sadie Scofield is finally ready for the 265-mile canoe race. It's three days of grueling, nonstop paddling, where every turn of the river reveals new challenges -- downed trees, poisonous snakes, alligators -- but the dangers are all worth it. Reaching the finish line is the only way for Sadie to redeem herself for last year, when one small mistake spiraled into disaster. Sadie has spent a year training, and she's ready for anything . . . except for her brother ditching her at the last minute for a better team. She has no choice but to team up with Cully, her former best friend turned worst enemy. Everything about him irritates her, from his stupid handsome face to the way he holds his paddle. But as the miles pass, the pain builds, and family secrets come to light, Sadie realizes she’ll have to work with Cully instead of against him. Last year's race was a catastrophe, but this year's race just might change her life in ways she never imagined. With an unforgettable heroine and an immersive setting, Holly Green's captivating debut promises heart-stopping action and a swoony romance that will leave you cheering.




When Langston Dances


Book Description

Inspired by watching a performance of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, a young black boy longs to dance and enrolls in ballet school.