Paro Anand’s ‘The Other: Stories of Difference’- a book every young adult and adult must read.
by Prashant Kapadia/NHN
A treat for book lovers, Full Circle Bookstore, Café and Speaking Tiger Books hosted an interesting ‘TALKING BOOKS’ conversation with Sunil Sethi and Best-Selling Author Paro as she introduced her latest book titled ‘The Other: Stories Of Difference’ at Café Turtle in Delhi.
In ‘The Other: Stories Of Difference’, Award winning writer Paro Anand takes you on a dark yet uplifting, unflinching yet deeply positive journey through her new book ‘The Other: Stories of Difference’. These stories are a searing portrayal of the minds of today’s teenagers.
In this collection of stories, award-winning writer Paro Anand exposes the secrets, sorrows and the courage that are parts of today’s youth life. A girl dealing with grief; another who is witness ta a horrible assault on a women in broad daylight; a boy who pushes himself to the brink of extinction; teenagers coming to the terms with their otherness. Her stories ask, how do you tell your best friend that you are different from everyone else in a deep, fundamental way? How do you go back to school and face friends and teachers when your own family has betrayed you? And when you put your faith in superman, does he deliver when the bullies come calling?
In Paro Anand’s ‘The Other: Stories of Difference’, every reader will find a fragment of themselves in the stories and will be enforced to examine their actions and inactions. It is a book every young adult and adult must read.
Paro Anand, described as a fearless writer with a big heart, is one of India’s top writers for children and young adults. She works with and writes extensively about young people in difficult circumstances. She runs Literature In Action, a program using literature as a constructive, creative outlet. She had interacted with over 3 hundred thousand children. She was awarded by former President of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam and The Russian Centre for Science and Culture. In 2017, she received the Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puruskar for her book Wild Child, now published as Like Smoke. Wingless has been performed nationally and internationally. Anand headed the National Centre for Children’s Literature, the apex body for children’s literature in India. She is a world record holder for helping over 3000 children make the World’s longest newspaper. As a renowned performance story teller and resource person, she has performed extensively in India and abroad including with Zulu, Eskimo and Swiss storytellers. Paro Anand, has been writing for children and young people for over 30 years and have published 26 books, including novels, short story collections, plays, picture books, a teacher’s guide and, most recently, a graphic novel.
