And The Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness. Illustrated by Rovina Cai.

Title: And The Ocean Was Our Sky
Author: Patrick Ness
Illustrated by Rovina Cai
Publisher: Walker Books
ISBN: 978-1406385403
Genre: Children’s Fiction, Literary
Pages: 160
Source: Publisher
Rating: 5 stars

I am a sucker for retellings or adaptations. A real-time sucker. Love the way some authors take a jab at it, make the classic their own, and then there are some who just cannot communicate what they want to. Thankfully, Patrick Ness belongs to the former category. And The Ocean Was Our Sky doesn’t read like a retelling. It doesn’t read like anything I have read before (yes you have heard this a lot, but this time it is really true). Alright, to cut the long story short: I absolutely loved And the Ocean Was Our Sky – loved the minimalist prose and the breathtaking illustrations. On a side note, let me also say that I loved how it veered away from the plot of Moby Dick soon into the book and I thought it was very refreshing.

Now to the plot: The whales of Bathsheba’s pod live for the hunt. They hunt men. Men who hunt them get hunted. Men who don’t hunt also get hunted. They are led by Captain Alexandra, fighting a war against men. Till they attack a man ship and from it emerges a man who will lead them to the myth of the very devil – the most evil of all men. The one that will change their lives forever. That in short is the plot of the book. It is a story of whales and men and how when we take over their world, what happens in the end.

What makes it different or interesting you ask? Patrick Ness is at the top of his game. This book may be sparse in terms of the writing, but every word lends gravitas. Every word that perhaps is not there in the story, is accompanied by beautiful illustrations by Rovina Cai. The story comes alive through another dimension as you read and experience the illustrations at the same time.

The morality play of the book is strong and is much-needed in times such as these. It is a book for both children and adults. I would say more for adults, just to get the point across that every life matters. The twist in the tale will take you by surprise for sure, but that’s hardly the point of the story. And The Ocean Was Our Sky is so heartwarming (I found it to be) and heartbreaking in so many places – the kind of book that will make you question so many things about life, death, and the in-between.

Sparrow by Sarah Moon

Title: Sparrow
Author: Sarah Moon
Publisher:  Scholastic
ISBN: 978-1338032581
Genre: Young Adult
Pages: 272
Source: Publisher
Rating: 4 Stars

As an introvert, Sparrow’s life has not been easy. She has been prone to reading and being by herself, which isn’t a bad thing at all. She prefers watching birds, and spending time with her high-flying mother, who is an IT executive at a Brooklyn bank. She has no friends and her world is limited to books and her teacher, Mrs. Wexler, the school librarian. She is the perfect friend Sparrow has – she doesn’t speak much and knows exactly what book Sparrow will like next. Till tragedy takes place and Mrs. Wexler dies in a freak accident. From then on, Sparrow is left all alone – miserable and lonely, almost wanting to commit suicide. Sparrow enters therapy and her world changes like never before. Enter: Rock & Roll music.

This is the plot of “Sparrow” by Sarah Moon. Sarah knows how to decode a teenager’s head. What goes on in Sparrow’s mind is almost bang-on. In fact, many a time I was transported to my teenage years and that had me nodding in affirmation to everything that was going on in the book. Moon’s prose is bang-on in so many parts, especially when she describes Sparrow with a book or her new-found love and the solace Rock & Roll brings to her life.

The book touches on mental health issues delicately and I wish it had probed a little further on it, though it is there and does address it in more than one way. The story doesn’t stray and I enjoyed Sparrow’s transition from grieving to loss to contemplating suicide to seeing things and life for what they were. Sarah Moon doesn’t glorify anything. If anything, she tells a story the way it is meant to be told – in an honest way. Just for that “Sparrow” deserves one read at least. Also, because it is rather warm in a lot of places.