When You Ask Me Where I'm Going

August 1, 2019
Poetry and prose that explore the Punjabi experience. Shifting between poetry, prose, and illustrated poems, this book both celebrates and interrogates the lives of Punjabi families in India and Canada, beginning and ending with poems that focus on the female experience. Subjects include the pressure to be a good Punjabi daughter-in-law and wife and the impact of colorism. While the first third deals with issues of violence, such as the systematic rape of women in the Punjab, the last third focuses on love, particularly self-love. The middle section, which is mostly prose, focuses on Kiran, who flees Chandigarh, India, for her aunt and uncle's home in British Columbia because she is pregnant. Although her mother asks her to get an abortion, she decides to have the child, a girl she names Sahaara. The remainder of the section explores Sahaara's life as a Canadian Punjabi high school student. Kaur's poetry, particularly in the first third of the book, delivers moments of startling clarity and light, lyrically describing the experience of a population rarely visible in Western literature. Unfortunately, though, the prose section in particular is clunky and the characters, underdeveloped. Kaur's ideas and compassion, however, burst with a promise that indicates that her future work has the potential to add layers to the at times hackneyed language and plotlines in this debut. A boldly experimental text that, unfortunately, tends toward the trite. (Poetry. 14-18)

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September 1, 2019

Gr 9 Up-A collection of poetry, prose, and illustrations surrounding the daily realities of what it's like to be a young woman in a world that doesn't always understand her. With six sections that highlight the multitude of conversations many women battle daily, this collection's pages are painted with the topics of mental health, sexual assault, immigration, and feminism. Ultimately, the collection takes readers on a journey to fight for others, for family, and especially for themselves. Kaur's elegant and informative poetry and prose packs a powerful punch. Broken into six parts themed as a journey across the body ("skin," "muscle," "lung," "nerve," "heart," and "light"), the mixed literary styles open a window into the world of being young and a woman in an unforgiving world. This isn't one continual story unfolding, but rather a string of experiences and thoughts that speaks strongly to women of color, undocumented immigrants, and those who are hurting. The gentle words empathize with and encourage readers, uplifting the soul, and praising every woman's spirit: "a note to self/you are worth every moment/that led you to yourself/you're the one i'd choose/every single time." VERDICT Fans of Joy McCullough's Blood Water Paint or Elizabeth Acevedo's The Poet X will want this collection on their shelves.-Emily Walker, Lisle Library District, IL

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2019
Grades 9-12 Nestled among heartfelt poetry, prose, and illustrations in this collection are topics pertinent to present times. Feminism, sexual assault, objectification, immigration, as well as corruption and the effects of European colonization in Punjab, are merely a handful of issues examined. Wholly, Kaur's debut collection explores what it means to be a young woman in a world that not only fails to hear her but that often refuses to see her. The novel begins with poems that are more than pretty words; they carry weight and breathe fire. Occasional passages of prose follows Kiran as she flees Chandigarh, India, and moves to British Columbia, where she learns she is pregnant, remaining there undocumented to raise her daughter, Sahaara. The final section ambles back into verse, but instead of reminding readers of the myriad ways power is taken away from women, that power is reclaimed through self-acceptance and love. Kaur's experiences as a Punjabi Sikh woman and the notes on the final pages provide more insight to some of the poems. Ideal for readers mesmerized by the words of Rupi Kaur.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)