Books in June 2024. It’s a YA verse novel that looks at the issue of consent through the eyes of a boy who realises he’s been raped and his battle with the aftermath.” Children’s author and storyteller extraordinaire, Chitra Soundar contributed a short story to the collection. The Mascot is about a Kabadi team in India. Chitra discusses what attracted her to the project, saying: “If children don’t know they have rights and what they are – how can they ask for them? Whether it is good air, clean water or the right to privacy, children are not always aware of their rights, especially if they are growing in countries where information is not freely available. While knowing the rights is not going to guarantee them, it’s an important first step.”
Chitra spent time considering which right to choose when she was asked to be part of the collection, she discusses why she wanted to focus on consultation. “I read through the list of rights a few times and as I did the dishes and went about my chores, I meditated on which one I felt strongly about. Growing up, I was often told by everyone around me – family, neighbours and teachers that adults knew better and I frequently got into trouble for challenging that. So, this was the closest to my experience and my values.” A short story was the obvious choice of form for Chitra as stories have played an important role in the whole of her life. She says: “I’m a child of stories – my grandmother used to teach me life lessons using stories and I still remember both the stories and the lessons. Whenever I read a book – be it fantastical or contemporary, I used to put myself in the shoes of the protagonist to assess how I would have dealt with the situation. “Big ideas are really simple – say the truth, do the right thing, be kind. They are all important and yet simple ideas. From picture books to big novels, stories are a blueprint to life, they build empathy and provide a crystal ball to look through our own responses to life’s big questions.” Chitra describes a bit about the short story which she contributed to the collection, adding: “The Mascot is an analogy for decisions taken in communities where ‘elders know best’ is used to silence children’s rights and opinions. I wanted the story to be light-hearted with smaller stakes but to represent a bigger awareness that everyone’s voice should be heard – especially when new ideas come from disrupting the framework, breaking the mould and walking a different path.” Stories continue to play a key role in Chitra’s life and she discusses some of the forthcoming work she has coming up. “Sona Sharma – Wish Me Luck will be out in September. A new book in the Nikhil and Jay series will be out in the summer. And I’m working on a brand-new series of ballet
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books with prima ballerina Yasmine Naghdi – watch this space, there’s lots of new stuff!” For my own short story in the collection, I was keen to write about libraries.
Whether growing up or in my career, libraries have played a central role in my life. Libraries are about freedom, freedom of choice and freedom of thought. The spaces and collections allow library users to be free to discover and learn at their own pace and according to their own interests. The very idea of equality of access for all feels radical. I wanted to touch on these themes showcasing the impact and enrichment that libraries provide, helping to bring children together, to encounter a range of ideas and people. The library in the story is deliberately shown to be a sanctuary of warmth and light on a winter’s day. During the cost-of-living crisis, these qualities have become even more important and even
Autumn-Winter 2023
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