THE SAMOSA REBELLION

A middle schooler stands up for his community after his fellow citizens embrace the xenophobic rhetoric of their president.

Since Paati, his grandmother, came from India to live with his family in the fictional island nation of Mariposa, 12-year-old Muki Krishnan has had to adjust to a lot. First of all, Paati snores through the night. Secondly, she rouses him out of bed for yoga before his commute across the city with his Salvadoran best friend, Fabi Calderón, to attend the exclusive prep school where they have scholarships. The differences between their lives and those of their classmates have always been stark. But when Mariposa’s president describes residents as either Mariposans/Butterflies (i.e., those who have been there for generations and who are mostly White) or Moths (i.e., immigrants, predominantly people of color), tensions rise immediately. After Paati is detained, Muki realizes that you are never too young to become a revolutionary and asks to join the secret rebellion against the deportations. The Indian independence movement is referenced several times among rebellion organizers, and the strength of the Krishnans’ multicultural neighborhood is celebrated throughout the book. Sekaran explains systemic racism and the dangers of demagoguery in clear and age-appropriate ways with evocative prose. Spot art showing Muki’s sketches enhances the text, and the opening page of each chapter is adorned with butterflies in flight.

Breathtakingly memorable.