Lowji Discovers America

Back to hunting for titles for this year's lit night. Our theme this year is "East Meets West" - dealing with bridging cultures. It may be more than 30 books in 30 minutes this year because our fab library assistant is adding a graphic novel portion!

Enter Lowji.

Lowji and his family are moving from Bombay to Illinois. Even though his best friend from home, Jamshed, insists that there will be many "silver linings" when Lowji gets to the States, Lowji is not so sure.

Once Lowji moves into his new home, he starts to notice the differences. Where are the kids? In Bombay they are everywhere! Why is the school empty? In Bombay he goes all year. Where are the pets? This is something that is the same. Just like in his old apartment building, the new Landlady Crisp says, "NO PETS!". That wouldn't be so bad if Lowji could make some friends.

The boys at the All Mart don't seem interested in him. The girl on the bicycle rides by too fast.

Lowji starts hanging out with Landlady Crisp. She doesn't really want him around, but Lowji has so many ideas about how she can have less work. She wouldn't have to set traps if she had a cat. She wouldn't need burglar alarms if she had a dog. She wouldn't have to fix her lawn mower if she had a goat.

Before long it seems that Jamshed was right. There are many silver linings to be found in Lowji's new home.

Fleming has written a sweet friendship / family story about making the most of change. While the culture shock is there, it is gentle and handled carefully. Lowji is an incredibly likeable boy, and I for one, would like to read more about him.