Meena's Saturday

August 15, 2024
Saturdays are a flurry of chores at Meena's house. She and her sisters help her mother shop and tidy up to prep the house for a deluge of visitors. Meanwhile, her brother lounges in bed reading. Meena knows this is unfair, but her mother says that's just the way things have always been since she was a little girl growing up. Meena's family, the first to emigrate from their village in India, help others who come later. As afternoon rolls around, aunts, uncles, and cousins fill the house with activity. While Meena makes countless cups of chai, the women prepare elaborate meals. The children entertain themselves by watching Bollywood movies and reenacting dance and action scenes. At dinner, tradition dictates that the women eat after the men. Meena knows that this, too, is unfair, and today, she decides to bring about change by sitting down to dinner with her father and the other men. The story mirrors the realities of many immigrant communities, demonstrating how families often gather to prepare and enjoy food and give new arrivals a leg up in a new land. Told in a realistically childlike voice, the narrative also highlights the gender disparity that many children encounter from a very young age. The bright watercolor illustrations are bursting with life. Traditional Indian clothes and food figure prominently as characters chatter and play in a whirlwind of chaos and togetherness. A lively look at community, connections, and ways to foster change.(Picture book. 3-8)

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Starred review from September 1, 2024

K-Gr 4-In this beautiful work about a large weekly gathering at the home of a Gujarati family from India, everyone's labor is valued. At sunrise, Meena's father returns from his night shift at the factory and as he goes to rest, Meena's busy Saturday is just beginning. Readers follow her as she helps her mother prepare and host. Meena proudly states "dinner is the main attraction and my mom puts on the best show in town." Mepani's writing flows with the ease of a child's thoughts and is layered with nuance through Meena's keen observations about the immigrant experience, the power of community, gender roles, and her own aspirations. Ismail's mixed-media illustrations reflect these layers through vibrant images with varying transparencies and washes of color. The scenes capture snapshots of cousins watching and reenacting Indian movies, a living room full of intergenerational guests, and Meena's favorite moment of tasting to see if the food is good. The story culminates with Meena acting to change the one thing she doesn't like about Saturdays. VERDICT Debut author Mepani pulls from her own childhood experiences to capture a single Saturday gathering full of family, friends, and joyful chaos. An important book for every growing library collection.-Sarah Pousty

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 16, 2024
“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.

October 1, 2024
Preschool-Grade 2 Meena describes her Gujarati family's bustling weekend routines in this perceptive slice-of-life picture book by debut author Mepani. Saturdays start at the crack of dawn for the young girl and her sisters, as they roll up their sleeves and help their mother clean the house and grocery shop in preparation for lots of visitors. The astute child narrator points out the inequity of her brother being allowed to lounge in bed. As a steady stream of family, neighbors, and friends arrives throughout the day, many feminine hands make light work in the kitchen. Ismail's energetic watercolor illustrations are a visual feast. The busy scenes capture animated conversations, children practicing Bollywood dance moves, and a dinner table laden with delicacies from chapatis to chana masala. Meena wonders why the men eat first: "That doesn't make sense to me. The girls did all the cooking! Someday, I'll sit at the table first." Seizing the day, the change-agent child pulls up an empty chair beside her father and makes space for herself. This conversation starter both appreciates and questions long-standing traditions.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2024
This captivating ode to weekly gatherings of friends and extended family brims with affection for foods, activities, and traditions shared by a loving, large group crowded together in the narrator's home. Mepani revels in specific references to Gujarati Indian culture within an immigrant experience in an Anglophone country. Young Meena, with her precocious, fierce perspective, is the star of the story. Beginning with early-morning chai, Meena narrates shopping and meal preparations overseen by her mother, greeting beloved cousins and other guests, watching Bollywood films and dancing, and finally enjoying a splendid feast. All the while, she questions strict gender norms, notes the tightly knit fabric of her community, and offers matter-of-fact commentary on her bicultural, bilingual experience. It's a testament to Mepani's writerly chops that such reflections feel integral to the storytelling and never tacked on; illustrator Ismail meets and enhances this achievement. Busy, vibrant mixed-media pictures of Meena and her friends and family bear stylistic resemblance to Bob Graham's, Helen Oxenbury's, and Quentin Blake's work but are entirely Ismail's own. An excellent pick for any day of the week. Megan Dowd Lambert

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2024
his captivating ode to weekly gatherings of friends and extended family brims with affection for foods, activities, and traditions shared by a loving, large group crowded together in the narrator's home. Mepani revels in specific references to Gujarati Indian culture within an immigrant experience in an Anglophone country. Young Meena, with her precocious, fierce perspective, is the star of the story. Beginning with early-morning chai, Meena narrates shopping and meal preparations overseen by her mother, greeting beloved cousins and other guests, watching Bollywood films and dancing, and finally enjoying a splendid feast. All the while, she questions strict gender norms, notes the tightly knit fabric of her community, and offers matter-of-fact commentary on her bicultural, bilingual experience. It's a testament to Mepani's writerly chops that such reflections feel integral to the storytelling and never tacked on; illustrator Ismail meets and enhances this achievement. Busy, vibrant mixed-media pictures of Meena and her friends and family bear stylistic resemblance to Bob Graham's, Helen Oxenbury's, and Quentin Blake's work but are entirely Ismail's own. An excellent pick for any day of the week.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)