YA-Chandra explores the immigrant experience with a poet's ruthless eye, clarity of focus, and deep humanity. The 19 stories are written in a variety of styles expressive of their subjects. Some are deceptively simple, with an earthy humor and gently satiric charm that will doubtless earn many comparisons to the work of R. K. Narayan, while others can be compared to Latin American magic realism, or to recent experimental Western writing. Taken together, the selections explore ways in which a clash of cultures plays out in terms of individual human experience. They are grouped into three sections: "Here," about South Indian immigrants in the West; "There," a look back at immigrants' cultural roots in post-Raj South India; and "Neither Here Nor There," about those who find they can't go home again. Readers who have some familiarity with Indian literature and South Indian culture will get the most out of these narratives but even those who miss many of the cultural referents should enjoy the sheer humanity, humor, tragedy, and diversity of perspectives found here. These gemlike offerings deal in a frank way with many issues of particular concern to young adults: sexuality, violence, bigotry, communication, alienation, responsibility, love, feminism, spirituality, superstition, and mental illness. Chandra conveys a sense of the infinite variety and possibility of human experience, and these unique stories should be of great interest to teens of any culture.-Christine C. Menefee, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
In..."Sari of the Gods," Chandra has been able to render with insight a trio of locales -- India, America and a hybrid place that's mysteriously in between. -- David Masello, The New York Times Book Review
