Review by Booklist Review
Mandeep's days are sunny when she spends time with her dad. Basking in familial warmth and togetherness, they enjoy cooking butter chicken, sharing stories, and dancing bhangra. Her days turn cloudy when Dad's new long-distance trucking job takes him away from home most of the week. Missing her loved one fiercely, the child struggles with difficult emotions. Requests from well-meaning adults to pay attention or clean her room trigger a torrent of tears. Brar's lyrical text captures the physical sensations the little girl experiences when in the eye of the storm: "She could feel her heart pound, hear her breath racing, and see her hand shaking." In Kaur's emotive watercolor illustrations, darkness engulfs the child as she braves angry thunderstorms and heavy downpours. Allowed time and space, Mandeep finds a creative way to express her feelings and stay closely connected to her dad, come rain or shine. This prescient picture book offers insight into mental wellness and how to weather emotional storms.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A young South Asian girl is devastated when her dad takes a job that keeps him away from his family for long periods. Mandeep loves spending time with her father. Together, the two sip cha, dance bhangra, and write jokes in Mandeep's journal. So when Dad is hired as a long-distance truck driver, Mandeep immediately slips into a stormy sadness. At school, she runs out of the classroom when her well-meaning teacher tells her to pay attention, and at home, her mother's suggestion to clean her room fills her with uncontrollable rage. Although her friends and family try to cheer her up, nothing works until she opens her journal and lets it all out, writing about how much she misses her father and describing all the things he wasn't here to experience. The practice of journaling eases her turmoil; Mandeep can function once more--and even feel happiness. The author deftly portrays the signs of childhood depression, making space for the protagonist's negative feelings. While the characters aren't explicitly described as Sikh, the book incorporates elements of Sikh culture, such as Dad's turban. Though the resolution feels somewhat oversimplified--such intense emotional distress would likely call for methods beyond journaling such as therapy--overall, it opens up an important conversation about grief, loss, and coping. Making use of arresting imagery and intense colors, the illustrations convey the depth of Mandeep's anguish. A somewhat simplified but poignant depiction of childhood depression.(Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
