The Radish

Aya Surheyao " Nishat can be anything she wants to be, except herself " (Jaigirdar 204)   In 2021 I’m making an effort to branch out from sci-fi/fantasy books and read more realistic fiction. Full of love, laughter, and tears, The Henna Wars does not disappoint. This novel, by Adiba Jaigirdar, tells the story of a Bangladeshi teenager who moved to Ireland with her family when she was young. At home, Nishat grapples with her new family dynamic when she comes out to her parents. At school, she’s used to the occasional rumors flying around about her culture and her parent’s Bengali restaurant. She’s shocked when in a school business competition, two of her classmates (including the starter of the rumors) decide to start selling henna designs, just like her. Furious, Nishat becomes determined to beat them. Throughout the story, Nishat displays great strength and persistence. She refuses to break down after her mother essentially gives her ultimatum saying, “Your Abbu and I love v...

     Although I am going to continue blogging about fairy tales for the time being this will not be a continuation of the Grimms' Fairy Tales blog. The stories do come from about the same time from an author just a country away from the Brother's Grimm. This blog will of course be about Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales . Hans Christian Andersen is of course best known for writing The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling . And although The Ugly Duckling is in this book, unless it was renamed The Little Mermaid is sadly not. Other than The Ugly Duckling the book includes 28 other stories The specific fairy tale the blog will be about this time around is The Garden of Paradise . It is a rather strange story about a prince's search for the namesake garden. So without delay let us start the synopsis.     The story begins with an explanation by the narrator of the prince's grandmother explaining the Garden of Paradise to him. The Prince is utterly absorbed b...