Meena's Saturday
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A slice-of-life story with a feminist message about a young Indian girl and her sisters managing a bustling house full of boisterous guests on a busy Saturday.
Saturday mornings start early for Meena. She and her sisters watch the sun rise while drinking chai before they clean the house and then head to the grocery store . . . while their brother gets to stay in bed. As the guests arrive, including Meena's favorite cousins, the women crowd into the kitchen to cook. The doorbell rings nonstop as family, neighbors, and friends fill the bustling house. Once fresh chapatis are made, dinner begins—for the men. But Meena spots an empty seat at the table and decides today is the day she makes an important change.
Meena’s Saturday by Kusum Mepani, with exuberant illustrations by Yasmeen Ismail, is the charming story of a family’s weekend ritual, a love letter to the gatherings of community and family, and an example of how changing long-standing traditions can start with you.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"In my house, Saturdays start early" begins Meena, the child narrator of this forward-looking family story. Though she loves the events that characterize the big weekly gatherings at her family's home, Meena dislikes the way that her brother gets to read in bed while she and her sisters and mother prepare for visitors: "In my family, boys get special treatment because they're boys." When she asks why, "Mom says that when she grew up in Gujarat, India, that's just the way it worked. I say those were the old days and things are changing." Ismail's fine-lined multimedia illustrations convey the work of the day—making chai, cooking elaborate dishes, tidying up, and doing it all over again for family and community members Meena's parents helped, all undertaken by girls and women. When the men get to eat first around the small dining table, Meena determines that later generations won't benefit from her help unless she begins now, by taking a seat at the table. Ages 4–8.
