Om Shanti, Babe review

Title: Om Shanti, Babe

 

Author: Helen Limon

Release date: 6^th September 2012

 

Publisher: Frances Lincoln Children’s Books

Cassia can't wait for her first visit to India - Bollywood glamour, new friends to admire her uber-cool street-dance moves….

 

But as she steps into real Indian life, NOTHING is as she expected...

Cass is with her mum in Kerala, on a buying trip for their Fair Trade craft shop, and everything seems to be going wrong. There's Mum's new romance with "call-me-V" Mr Chaudury for a start, her own prickly stand-off with pretty, fashion-mad Priyanka, and the devastating news that her mum's business may be on the rocks. But then pop idol Jonny Gold arrives at the beach to promote his new song, Om Shanti Babe, sparking a mystery, new friendships and a race to save the mangrove swamps...

Fizzing with energy, and laugh-out-loud funny, this is a roller-coaster journey of discovery, which also has an exciting environmental twist - all against the backdrop of beautiful Kerala. 

Cass and her mum, Loopy Lu, go to India to get resources for their Fair Trade craft shop. While there they find out something worrying about the beautiful Kerala beach which is under attack from developers. Can Cass and her new found friends do anything to help?

I really enjoyed this book as every sentence is jam-packed full of detail and events. Each chapter reveals something new about one of the characters and develops the plot with exciting twists and turns.

Cassie starts off the novel as a selfish character who has fallen out with her friends back home and hopes to find solace in India. Things there are far from simple as Cass struggles to win over her the girl she is sharing a room with and her mum only has eyes for ‘Call me V’!  

However, as the novel develops, so does Cassia’s character and I think that’s what made this novel so pleasurable – Cassia develops along with the plot. The elaborate descriptions and fabulous friendships that Cass makes allowed me to become engrossed in the novel and gave it a feel-good quality.

The Indian culture and its spirituality is explored in great depth. Cassia asks the Tiger Goddess for help with her problems and even the title of the book suggests a message to the reader. ‘Om is the sound of the universe and Shanti means peace. It can be said as a way of wishing well to someone you care about’ (p.163). It felt like the novel offered moral and ethical messages to the reader throughout but in a really peaceful way rather than a patronising way.

I would definitely recommend this novel as it is so well written. Helen Limon beautifully captures the Indian atmosphere and the novel is quite a moralistic tale, celebrating the different qualities of the characters as well as the amazing natural landscape. Within the pages of the book, Limon interweaved a brilliant plot with inventive characters and meaningful messages about society and the environment. A must read for anyone who wants to enjoy something light and fun.

4.5/5 A really lovely, beautiful tale.

 With special thanks to Frances Lincoln for sending me a copy of the book.