Mira in the Present Tense

When a woman comes to their school to teach a select few students about writing, twelve-year-old Mira is excited for the chance to be in the class with her best friend and a couple of boys she's known forever. Mira, who is half Indian, half Jewish has a beloved grandmother who is preparing for her impending death in a rather unconventional way. Mira must deal with many firsts in her life as she navigates a path from childhood to young adulthood.A well-written story that preteen girls will identify with no matter where they live or what their heritage is.

Some books are just lovely. Even if they make you cry, they are lovely. Mira in the Present Tense is one such book. I picked it up from the library on a whim and am very pleased with my choice.Brahmachari has created memorable characters and released them into the real world. Mira is a complex twelve-year-old dealing with pressures both common and rare and she does so beautifully. Nana Josie is one of those grandmothers that could easily embarrass her grandchildren, but her eccentricities are such that said grandchildren accept her proudly. Both characters are fully developed and I longed to meet both of them.The story is wonderfully complex and elegantly simplistic. Mira experiences the angst of crossing thresholds such as getting her first period, opening her heart to a boy and discovering the ugly extremes of our world. At the same time, her Nana Josie is dying from cancer. Mira walks the path with her Nana by helping her paint the coffin she will be cremated in, joining her on a pilgrimage to say goodbye to places and people and simply sitting with her when she’s too tired to do anything else.I found this book to be an emotional journey that wrung tears from my eyes and filled my heart to bursting. Mira reminded me of my youth and the anxiety that goes with growing up; she made me see the death of my father (who I watched die of cancer) from another perspective. The story shed light on the Rwandan Genocide and the heartache of its survivors. So much emotion filled the pages of Mira in the Present Tense that I’ll not soon forget it.

Meera in the Present Tense is a really wonderful MG novel about families and grief and love and growing up. I absolutely loved Meera and her quirky, real family, which is loving but not perfect. I loved her relationship with colorful, opinionated, artistic and occasionally deeply insensitive Nana Josie, who is dying of cancer but determined to "die well" - a process which includes painting her own coffin, with Meera's help.I loved that even though Meera's gradual loss of her grandmother is heartbreaking (and spot-on in terms of the emotional journey), this is not a depressing novel. It's just a beautiful, beautifully emotional novel, with sadness and joy perfectly balanced. Meera is losing her beloved grandmother; she's also falling in love for the first time, with a boy who has his own wounds and courage and heart. She's also finally finding her voice in public after too many years of trying to be invisible for her own protection.I stayed up too late reading this novel, even though I'm sleep-deprived, because I didn't want to let it go. "Beautiful" really is the best word for it. I can't wait to read the next book about Meera - and any other books that Sita Brahmachari has written.

This is Artichoke Hearts under a new title. Don't be fooled into thinking its a new book like I was.