WOW Review: reading across cultures
Volume IV, Issue 1
Fall 2011
WOW Review is an electronic journal of critical reviews on children’s and adolescent literature that highlight intercultural understanding and global perspectives.
Introduction and Editor’s Note
Black Radishes
Written by Susan Lynn Meyer
Buffalo Dreams
Written by Kim Donor
Cattle Kids, a Year on the Western Range
Written by Cat Urbigkit
Karma
Written by Cathy Ostlere
My Abuelita
Written by Tony Johnston
My Rows and Piles of Coins
Written by Tololwa M. Mollel
Naming Maya
Written by Uma Krishnaswami
No and Me
Written by Delphine de Vigan
Saraswati’s Way
Written by Monika Schröder
Something for School
Written and illustrated by Hyun Young Lee
Stolen
Written by Lucy Christopher
Yellow Star
Written by Jennifer Roy
Contributors
Brittney Beaver, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
Tyler Cordes, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
Jill R. Duran, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
Wendy Harper, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Cates Harris, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
Rhonda Hover, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
Holly Johnson, University of Cincinnati, Cincinatti, OH
JeungDeok Kim, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Judi Moreillon, Texas Woman’s University, Denton, TX
Srilakshmi Ramakrishnan, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Laura Salzyn, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
Abby Weyen, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
Editor
Janelle B. Mathis, University of North Texas, Denton, TX – Chair/Editor
Production Editor
Richard Clift
WOW Review, Volume IV, Issue 1 by Worlds of Words is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Based on work at https://wowlit.org/on-line-publications/review/iv-1/
WOW review: reading across cultures
ISSN 2577-0527
Hello,
How I wish I had found this posting before I submitted my changes for the paperback version of Karma! As you can imagine it is not easy to write of Indian culture as a foreigner. All assurances to readers that I did enlist the help of three Indo-Canadian writers for assistance with the language (one writer of HIndu descent and two Sikh-Punjabi writers). Not only did they read for accuracy but also made many of the additions that you refer to as incorrect. Sigh. It is so difficult to get things right. Writing Karma was a very risky undertaking that I spent three years on. To explore both a culture and the dire political situation of 1984 as an outsider was fraught with peril but I was committed to telling this important story. My hope was to bring to light the relatively unknown massacre of the Sikhs to the general community as well as write about the difficulties of immigration, identity and adolescence. It was a work of passion that I am proud of. Many thanks for taking the time to read Karma and offer your thoughts. I learned much for your post. All my best, Cathy Ostlere
Hello Cathy,
Thank you for your gracious response! I thoroughly enjoyed reading the novel and was stunned at the meticulous descriptions of daily life in India, especially considering that your first visit to India was not exactly very pleasurable. India is complex and it is very challenging to view it as a single entity or a single theoretical construct. I admire and applaud your resolve to write a novel about my homeland despite the challenges of being an outsider. And I also applaud your thematic choice for the main plot – the riots following Mrs. Gandhi’s assassination are some of the least known and least discussed topics of Indian politics. I hope you will be writing another such powerful story set in India pretty soon! Warmest regards, Shri Ramakrishnan