Publishers Weekly
08/28/2023
The weather is always ideal in the city of Shajarpur, 1,500 miles away from Delhi’s smog-steeped streets. Following her father’s abrupt death, moving to Shajarpur from Delhi is the fresh start that 13-year-old Savitri Kumar, her mother, and her older sister need. After she discovers that touching the foliage in her father’s beloved plant collection conjures visions of the past and present, Savi worries that the peace she craves may still be out of reach. Things worsen when the massive tree on her new school’s grounds shares with her messages of impending environmental strife. As she grows closer to Tree and discovers more about her father through her visions, her interest in plants and the changing climate deepens, prompting her to join her school’s environmental club. But bullying by popular “Very Cool and Hip” classmates raise feelings of inadequacy in Savi. Heavy-handed environmental messaging and over-the-top villains sometimes detract from the overarching narrative, which teems with vibrant and intriguing cultural details that make the fictional setting spring from the pages. Savi’s family’s individual experiences with grief encourage rumination on mental health and recovery, while brief mentions of class and caste discrimination will inspire conversation. Ages 12–up. (Aug.)
wildlife conservationist and writer Prerna Singh Bindra
Enchanting, witty, and achingly beautiful, Savi and the Memory Keeper is at once fantastical and real—where tree hugs heal and wasps are saviors. The author skillfully weaves a narrative of personal and climate grief, and the healing power of Nature.”
acclaimed author of The Big Dreams of Small Creatu Gail Lerner
“Savi and the Memory Keeper takes the reader on a journey that walks a line between fantasy, reality, humor, and poignance…Snarky and guarded in the wake of her father’s death, Savi ends up showing us how connection—to plants and animals, to her mother and sister—can be the key both to self-renewal and to saving our planet.”
bestselling author Jerry Pinto
A book of magic. It’s about trees and even if there were no talking trees and wasps that communicate, it would still be magic because trees are magic. When you have finished, you’ll want to go out and hug a tree. (Just do it.)”
acclaimed author of A People’s History of He Mathangi Subramanian
I never expected a book about grief to make me laugh out loud so many times! Savi’s story bursts with heart, humor, empathy, affection, and just the right amount of magic. Each page feels more truthful than the last. A touching page-turner for all ages.”
Vogue India
Vachharajani’s books are so inspirational—they remind us that no matter how scary things may get, how imperfectly we may behave or how hopeless we may sometimes feel, the fight for our planet isn’t over.”
Foreword Reviews
Savi and the Memory Keeper is a poignant novel in which natural connections are a means of triumphing over greed and climate change.”
New York Times bestselling author of If I Stay Gayle Forman
Part environmental fable, part coming-of-age tale, Savi and the Memory Keeper is tender, charming, and deep—a wonderful book.”
Kirkus Reviews
2023-07-13
Six months after Dad’s fatal heart attack, his grieving family moves to his hometown.
Lonely Savi is just shy of 14. Her older sister escapes into social media. Mom is withdrawn, cleaning obsessively. Leaving polluted Delhi, the Kumars settle in Shajarpur, renowned for its perfect climate and clean air, along with Dad’s 42 houseplants, withering without his care. Savi is determined to save them, and soon something strange happens: Whenever she touches a plant, she has visions, glimpses into her father’s youth, Shajarpur’s history, and threats to its future. At her new school, Savi meets Tree, an enormous Ficus mysorensis, or fig tree, who communicates especially powerfully with her. She joins the school ecology club but is also approached by the uber-wealthy Very Cool and Hip People, who make her feel insecure. Hiding her new powers, Savi is torn between the two groups until the shocking announcement that Tree, who seems to be dying, will be cut down. Tree’s decline also mirrors a negative shift in Shajarpur’s weather. The growing urgency forces Savi outside her comfort zone as the story builds to a climax that exposes a shadowy group of conspirators. Narrated in Savi’s fresh, humorous voice, this dreamy, atmospheric story skillfully explores the dynamics of grief. The nuanced conclusion reinforces central themes of interconnection between people and environment and the joyful, healing properties of nature. The often playful tone helps soften the serious subject matter, and Eipe’s spot art whimsically references the environmental content.
Lush, imaginative, and emotionally insightful. (Eco-fantasy. 10-16)
