Ajay and the Jaipur Moon by Varsha Shah

"Space offers us new worlds to conquer, new territories to colonize, and endless resources to take."

These are the words of Mrs Surya. At first they sound glorious to the audience and to the team of kids who have come to meet this famous millionaire but slowly the truth behind this sentence is revealed. You could use this sentence to introduce this book to your readers aged 10+. Think about the words conquer, colonize and take. Colonize is especially poignant when you consider this book is set in India and they were colonized by the British.

Now look at this statement by Mrs Surya:

"As you know, the WECU corporation own factories across the globe. With the willing support of politicians, I will move them into space so that they no longer pollute our world. No longer bogged down with laws and human rights, these factories will be a blueprint for oligarchs everywhere."

The words 'human rights' should chill you. In the first book the workers in the T-Shirt factory were subjected to horrid working conditions. In this second book we meet the slum kids of Jaipur. Their leader, a girl named Laxmi is missing one finger as a result of working in a jewelry making factory. You should review the UN Rights of the Child with your class. 

Now read Chapter 28 - and think about the consequences of Mrs Surya vision of space, her assumed role as leader, and the way she uses words to manipulate the kids and later her press conference audiences. Even her office, with the glass floor and the way the door snaps shut are all about control and power. When you are reading this book notice the references to her eyes - "windows to her corrupt soul."

Ajay and his team of street kids work hard to survive living on the streets of Mumbai. The produce a newspaper which last year led to some fame but as time has passed people are no longer interested in reading the news and printing their paper each week is a huge struggle without a proper printing press. But buying a new press means they need a lot of money. Then Ajay reads about a competition to find a meteorite that has crashed into the earth. Whoever finds it will be given a tour of the new space research base in Jaipur. 

Ajay has a talented team of friends: Vinod is a wonderful cook; Yasmin, safely away from the dangerous T-shirt factory is a very fine artist; Saif is an apprentice engineer who can solve any engineering problem; and Jai is a first-class cricketer.

Working as a team I was sure these kids would find a way to travel from Mumbai to Jaipur, and I knew they would find a way to win this competition. BUT standing in their way there are difficulties, lies, betrayals and corrupt adults. Saif finds the location of the meteorite but as they arrive in Jaipur his tools are stolen. This is just the first disaster. In fact, there are so many twists in this plot I began to think these kids would not survive let alone succeed.

If you read this book in a class you will want to add in some research about Jagadish Chandra Bose (1858-1937) Dr APJ Abdul Kalam (1931-2015), and Asima Chatterjee (1917-2006). Along with the astronaut Kalpana Chawla (1962 -2003).

Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose is one of the most prominent first Indian scientists who proved by experimentation that both animals and plants share much in common. He demonstrated that plants are also sensitive to heat, cold, light, noise and various other external stimuli.

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam served as the president of India from 2002 to 2007. He began his career designing helicopters for the Indian Army as an aeronautical engineer for the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO). In 1969, he was moved to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), where he served as project director on SLV-III, the nation's first satellite launch vehicle, which was successful in putting the satellite Rohini into a near-Earth orbit in 1980.

Asima Chatterjee was an Indian chemist noted for her work in the fields of organic chemistry and phytomedicine. Her most notable work includes research on vinca alkaloids, and the development of anti-epileptic and anti-malarial drugs. She also authored a considerable volume of work on medicinal plants of the Indian subcontinent.

Kalpana Chawla was American astronaut who died in the Space Shuttle ‘Columbia’ disaster. Born in Karnal, India, she was the first woman of Indian origin to go to space. In May 1997, she went on her first space mission, travelling for fifteen days in the Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-87. In 2003, she travelled once again into the space aboard ill-fated Space Shuttle Columbia flight STS-107.

You can read chapter one on the Chicken House page. 

This is an exciting and beautifully written and illustrated book for children aged eight and upwards. It could be the starting point for discussions about what friendship means to them and how they relate to each other’s varying interests and future plans. School Reading List UK

Alongside action and humour are serious socio-political messages. The power imbalance between rich and poor is a significant theme and there is mention of child labour and exploitation. There are many points in the book that would prompt deep discussions. ‘What defines where someone belongs?’ asks Ajay. He later comments, ‘All that matters about a society is the way it treats its most vulnerable.’  The children’s achievements (in the face of adversity) and their tight friendship makes Ajay and the Jaipur Moon an empowering and heart-warming read. Just Imagine

You could also use this book to discuss the depiction of a character - Mrs Surya. Her clothes are both interesting and obscene when you think about the poverty experienced by the kids in this book. She reminded me of the evil woman in Beetle Boy by MG Leonard.

"Her eyes were the colour of warm caramel ... her smile eclipsing the sun.

"She turned and gave a magnetic smile that he was sure was just for him! She looked magnificent as she went to stand on the podium ... wearing a silver sari encrusted with scales of diamonds that blazed in the light of the chandelier."

"Up close, glittering from head to toe, with silver star earrings, and the border of the sari snaking around her, she looked even more striking."

"Mrs Surya glittered from head to toe in a lace sari that was encrusted with diamonds and looked like the clouds of the milky way. ... she looked like a figure spun from light."

This is the second book about Ajay and his newspaper The Mumbai Sun. I loved the first and this sequel did not disappoint.

Ajay and the Mumbai Sun