The Stories Grandma Forgot - Nadine Aisha Jassat - ★★★.¾

AUTHOR: Nadine Aisha Jassat

GENRE: Middle-grade Novel-in-Verse

RATING: 3.75 stars.

In a Nutshell: A novel-in-verse. More of a mystery than what I had expected from the title. Nevertheless, a solid read for middle graders, with a strong theme of self-identity, racism, bullying, friendship and family.

Story Synopsis:

Twelve-year-old Nyla, a mixed race child, lives a life focussed on those around her. Her loving but busy single mom—who works double shifts to support their family, her beloved grandmother—who has Alzheimer’s, and her best friend Jess—who has acting ambitions, are the key people in her life.

Nyla has always been told that her father passed away when she was four. But when her grandma insists that she saw him in the local supermarket, Nyla wonders if Grandma was right or was it her disease creating trouble again.

As Nyla decides to investigate her grandma’s claim, she also hopes to discover more about her mixed identity and where she fits in this world with its preset notions about race.

The story comes to us in the first person perspective of Nyla.

First things first. I am not a poetry person, and thus, I read this novel-in-verse as if it were prose than poetry. I am sure poetry lovers will enjoy the rhythmic approach more, but for those who are like me, reading the book as simple prose doesn’t affect the understanding or enjoyment in any way.

Bookish Yays:

✔ A fast-paced plot, courtesy the story that comes only through free verse. (At least, I think it is free verse. I am not a reliable judge of contemporary poetry patterns.) The poetic elements will work well even if children read the book as a regular story. The vocabulary level is also perfect for middle graders.

✔ A courageous lead character in Nyla, who takes time to come into her own, but does so with aplomb.

✔ Many wonderful secondary characters, especially Jess who is a one-of-a-kind girl with her ambitions and her loyalty, and Ms. Haldi the librarian who is exactly as librarians ought to be.

✔ The love between Nyla and her grandmother. It pained me to see a little girl as her ailing grandmother’s caretaker but the whole depiction was so realistic that they both won me over.

✔ The bittersweet depiction of Alzheimer’s without going over the top. I loved the equivalence of Alzheimer’s with time travel. It’s a great way of making kids understand the disease without feeling overwhelmed.

✔ Racism and how it affects children, especially those from mixed races who are neither here nor there.

✔ Many pages use special formatting effects on some part of the verses, thereby enhancing their impact. (This of course is best experienced in the physical copy.)

Bookish Nays:

⚠ The title made me assume that the focus would be more on storytelling interactions between the grandmother and her granddaughter. But the focus of the plot was more on the mystery of whether and whom Grandma saw in the supermarket, and on Nyla’s attempts to figure out a secret from her past. The role of storytelling isn’t the highlight, unlike what was promised.

⚠ In the course of her quest, Nyla takes some questionable decisions. I am not too fond of middle-grade books that encourage reckless behaviour without any reprimand or guilt forthcoming in later chapters.

⚠ The reason why so many adults kept so many secrets from Nyla wasn’t convincing to me. The mysterious parts appear forced because of this odd tendency of not revealing even relatively minor facts. The revelations hence didn’t appeal much to me.

All in all, I expected a more nostalgic kind of a plot with storytelling strengthening the bond between an ailing grandmother and her grandchild. But the book ended up more like a mystery-adventure. That said, the book also serves partially as a coming-of-age work, with Nyla learning how to stand up for herself in the face of bullying and racism.

Recommended to middle-grade readers, though the content will also work for older readers because of the themes. At the same time, the story covers some tough topics such as parental death, racist behaviour, bullying, and Alzheimer’s; do keep these in mind if picking it up for a sensitive child.

My thanks to Hachette Children's Group and NetGalley for the DRC of “The Stories Grandma Forgot (and How I Found Them)”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.