Embrace the Chicken
by Mahtab Narsimhan
Orca Book Publishers
Middle Grade
Pub Date 29 Jan 2019


I am reviewing ing a copy of Embrace the Chicken through Orca Book Publishers and Netgalley:


Shivani only left Mumbai a few months ago but already she is starting to feel less like an outsider. She likes her new school she has a best friend now but when her Mom volunteers for the school fundraiser she worries what others will think because of the stinky dishes her Mother cooks and the fact she struggles with English. Shivani loves the dishes but won’t eat then around her friends.


Embrace the Chicken is a high-lo book geared towards reluctant, struggling readers.


I give Embrace the Chicken four out of five stars!


Happy Reading!

I haven’t read any books like #EmbraceTheChicken by Mahtab Narsimhan (from @orcabook) before. I was instantly taken back to my middle school days when I desperately wanted nothing more than to assimilate to the dominant culture. I appreciate Narsimhan sharing Shivani’s struggles with fitting in with her friends/classmates and with honoring her family. While I was sometimes frustrated with the choices the main character made- I did find them to be realistic and familiar.
This book would be a great addition to a school library, literature circle, home collection, etc. We need to hear more stories from Authors of the Global Majority!

This is rather a cute, quick read about a girl, Shivani, who is trying to desperitly be like all the other white Canadians that she sees around her. Her family only recently emgrated, and she wants so much to fit in, that she eats white bread sandwiches, rather than Indian food, so she doesn't look weird. She wears jeans, instead of a sari, and she does not let any of her friend come to her home, because she is embarrassed that her mother doesn't speak good English yet.

This gentle book, told from Shivani's point of view, shows that things are not the way they seem. That people will not shun her because of her mother, or her mother's cooking, or her mother's use of English. That instead, they will embrace her.

It is a common fear, that of not fitting in, and this is a well done take on it.


Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.