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The stories in Gumrah come from a TV show of the same name hosted by Channel V, owned by Star India. The foreword by Chetan Bhagat seeks to provide a context for the narratives. It also outlines the purpose of the book, which is to warn of the dangers of the teenage years, and therefore the importance of being aware and responsible. The first story, ‘Soulmate’, is the narrative of sibling rivalry turned tragic. A case of unrequited teenage love, insecurity at home and in school, and subconscious resentment of a younger sibling, lead a girl to murder her younger sister in a fit of rage.

Have you ever had a dream that’s left you amazed, baffled, terrified, elated, confused, sweating, or feeling any other adjective in abundance?! The dream world is a truly happening place. Funny dreams, weird dreams, scary dreams, lucid dreams, sad dreams, lonely dreams, sometimes even lifechanging dreams. If you’ve ever had the experience of waking up from an incredibly vivid dream, or one that is only hazily etched in memory, you know partly what this book is about! Shobha—the epicenter of Sandhya Rao’s Dream Writer—is a dreamy girl. She sees many dreams, but…

There are few things as mysterious as the idea of Fate. In his collection of short stories, The Line Reader, Agni Tripathi appears to pay tribute to this idea. The stories are steeped in irony and present characters from different walks of life and their unique relationship with fate— we have those who try to predict it, those who could have prevented it, and those who couldn’t. They bring us a series of ‘what if ’s and ‘if only’s. The stories bring forth the idea of unpredictability by introducing unexpected endings.

What better way to impart an environmental mes sage to children but not sound too preachy than by recounting an imaginative tale of an alien visiting Earth in search of a magical substance to save his own planet! Jamuna Rangachari creatively weaves a story around a dark cloud endangering Planet Zylake to awaken the conscience of readers to the environmental dangers faced by Earth. She is an author of children’s books and a software professional who espouses positive values, spirituality and holistic living and is associated with the Life Positive magazine, a part of the Life Positive Foundation that focuses on promoting and disseminating holistic information, techniques and wisdom to the general public.

The Stranger And Other Curious Stories is a collection of short stories by AWIC for young children. The 14 stories all deal with very unusual unexplainable happenings which children will find very interesting, captivating and will certainly tickle their imagination. The stories deal with a wide range of episodes—meeting interesting strangers on a hillside during a holiday, acquiring a secret friend while in hospital, befriending a ferocious dog who otherwise hated strangers—all dealing with differing nature of experiences and happenings, but all very gripping. The stories, besides being interesting, are descriptive and informative.

Rumer and Jon Godden were prolific writers, especially the former. The sisters spent their childhood and then a few years of their adult lives in India, even remaining in the country after Independence. Indian Dust Stories, a collection of short stories, a Ruskin Bond collection, features two poems and thirteen short stories. The two poems are by Rumer Godden, while three of the short stories are by Jon Godden and the rest by Rumer Godden. The poems talk about the harsh reality of life even if it is in the midst of what may seem as great beauty to the eye—the river in Bengal and the winter in Kashmir.