When Impossible Happens

Gr 3-5--An Indian child seeks truth during the chaos of lockdown and loss. Swara narrates the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic from her home city of Bengaluru, India. During the confusion and fear of those first weeks, she suffers a deeply personal loss. To cope, Swara rebrands life challenges into a series of mysteries to be solved, leading to the possibility of solving an actual crime in her very own neighborhood. Swara is an engaging narrator in a cast of distinctive characters that bring Swara's neighborhood to life, even amid a global pandemic. The characters' authenticity shines during scenes of online school with a compassionate teacher hearing the very real concerns of children living through COVID-19. Humor keeps readers engaged through clever wordplay: Swara's mystery-loving grandmother calls Swara "Little Miss Marble," while her best friend Ruth, who crowns herself the neighborhood reporter, calls her broadcast, "The Ruth of the Matter." However, the overall arc of the story gets weighed down by multiple dynamic story lines: the loss of a beloved family member; the terror of an unknown virus and the resulting unprecedented lockdown; a new puppy; and the strange happenings at night in the empty shop across the street. The result tangles readers in a web of problems that feels overwhelming, even with resolution. VERDICT A welcome perspective on life, loss, and current events that will engage readers in the beginning but might lose their interest by the end.--Casey O'Leary

During lockdown in Bengaluru, India, when "you couldn't open a window to draw in a deep breath," eight-year-old Swarna longs to see her "favorite person in the world," maternal grandmother Pitter Paati. When usually "fizzy-busy" Pitter Paati, who lives on the city's outskirts, falls ill and dies suddenly from the virus before Swarna can see her, the girl's family merely tells her that her grandmother is "gone." Swarna naturally finds the prospect of this sudden disappearance "V. Ridiculous. V. Impossible!" She's sure that her detective-fiction-loving grandmother, who affectionately called her Little Miss Marble, has left clues to her whereabouts, and she dives into an inquiry from the confines of her family's apartment. As she stares out of her bedroom window, she contemplates her grandmother's apparent disappearance as well as a Rear Window-like scenario that unfurls under her gaze. Interspersed with occasional lists and poems, brief, conversational third-person chapters trace the stages of grief, accompanying Swarna's investigation and deeply felt emotional beats as she slowly comes to terms with her loss. It's a compassionately rendered story, told with hope, humor, and pathos, for anyone navigating dark times. Ages 8-12. (Apr.)