This debut middle-grade novel from Sangu Mandanna (A Spark of White Fire) is a vivid reimagining of an Indian legend that makes the myth's classic elements feel both enduring and modern.
Eleven-year-old Kiki Kallira lives in London with her mother. Kiki was "all sunshine and fearlessness" when she was younger, but that fearlessness has melted into an obsessive anxiety. Now, she buries herself in sketching to avoid the intrusive thoughts that weigh her down. Lately she's been drawing images from one of the Indian legends her mother told her: the story of Mysore, a beautiful Indian kingdom plagued by Asuras ("huge monstrous" demons) and ruled by the "cruelest and most powerful of all the Asuras," Mahishasura. One night Kiki awakens and her room is on fire. Surrounded by the flames, two of the figures she has drawn--an Asura and a brave girl named Ashwini--are fighting. Ashwini explains that the legends are real, and Mahishasura is trying to break into Kiki's world. Kiki is thrust into her sketchbook's version of Mysore where she meets friends and foes... of her own creation. Though Kiki doesn't feel any braver, if she can't stop Mahishasura, Mysore and her world will both be lost.
Mandanna brings together the original tale with contemporary Kiki's own fears and dreams, creating a world that feels both fresh and familiar. Mandanna handles Kiki's anxieties realistically and with compassion and the other characters of Mysore are wonderfully diverse, all capable and powerful in their own ways. Kiki Kallira Breaks a Kingdom proves that anyone--11-year-old girls included--can be heroes and forces to be reckoned with. Adventure, humor, heart--this one has it all. --Kyla Paterno, freelance reviewer