Younguncle in the Himalayas

Younguncle #2

by Vandana Singh

Vandana Singh’s first book, Younguncle Comes to Town , was an instant classic of children’s literature. Now, in this highly anticipated follow-up, Younguncle finds himself on an adventure in the mountains of India.
In Younguncle in the Himalayas , our protagonist arrives with his family at the gloomy, mysterious Hotel Pine-Away and soon discovers that their mountain holiday is going to be anything but peaceful. As Younguncle chats with monkeys and debates the true nature of reality with an offbeat sect of the Quantum Banana spiritualists, the fate of the picturesque little valley hangs in the balance. Who is the strange Rat-girl who charms rodents out of the hotel? Can the children and their eccentric uncle thwart the schemes of the dangerous city-slicker Pradeep Daalmakhini? Can Younguncle help Daalmakhini’s intended bride escape a fate worse than death? Has our favorite adventurer finally met his match?
 
“Enchanting . . . Singh is a most promising and original young writer.”—Ursula K. LeGuin, author of The Earthsea Trilogy
“One of the best children’s books this year. . . . It has none of the self-consciousness you often find in adults who write for children, very plausible dilemmas and a delightful style.” — Business Standard

Genres: Childrens

140 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Vandana Singh was born and raised in India and currently lives in the Boston area, where she is a professor of physics at Framingham State University, and a science fiction writer. Although her Ph.D. is in particle physics, in recent years she has been working on the transdisciplinary scholarship of climate change, focusing on innovative pedagogies. She has collaborated with the Center for Science and the Imagination three times, twice on climate change–related projects. Her first collaboration (a story for Project Hieroglyph) led to the start of her academic work in the area, resulting in a case study of Arctic climate change as part of a program award from the American Association of Colleges and Universities, for which she traveled to the Alaskan North Shore in 2014. She was also a participant in a re-enactment of “The Dare,” as part of the Year Without a Winter Project, and has contributed a story to the upcoming anthology (forthcoming from Columbia University Press in 2018). She has been an invited panelist for the National Academy of Sciences working group on interdisciplinarity in STEM, and has taught in and/or co-led summer workshops on climate change for middle and high school teachers.

Vandana’s short fiction has been widely published to critical acclaim, and many of her stories have been reprinted in Year’s Best collections. Her North American debut is a second short story collection, Ambiguity Machines and Other Stories (Small Beer Press) that was No. 1 on Publisher’s Weekly’s Top Ten in Science Fiction when it came out in February 2018, and earned praise from Wired, the Washington Post, and the Seattle Times, among others. Locus Magazine’s Gary K. Wolfe refers to her as “one of the most compelling and original voices in recent SF.”

Reviews

[Moushumi Ghosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book featuring Younguncle was fun but short. This one is a fun romp through the Himalayas in the company of the mastermind, Younguncle, his nephew Ravi, niece Sarita, the Baby, Sister-in-Law and Elder Brother. Featuring several ghosts, one rat-girl, one mathematically-inclined young lady, a few cartoon villians, the village women of Lasaul, and a few Himalayan langurs, this sequel (?) to the adventures of Younguncle is a zany and quirky read while also referencing the Chipko Movement. A fun read.

[Sahir D'souza. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me begin by saying: I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS BOOK.
Ok. Why?
This book, unusually for a sequel, is better than the first book (‘Younguncle Comes to Town’). It’s hilarious. Younguncle and his rather eccentric family decide to spend the Pooja (a.k.a Divali) holidays in the Himalayas. They are put up in the mysterious and spooky Hotel Pine-Away. Younguncle makes friends with a troupe of spiritualists – the Quantum Bananas, followers of the Great Keladas – who have come to the hills for a Banana convention. As they argue at length about whether the world is an illusion or not, Younguncle and his nephew and nieces discover some rather sinister happenings in the nearby village, involving the extremely arrogant and rich bachelor, Pradeep Daalmakhni. They enlist the help of Tanuja, an intelligent young woman, crazy about maths, who happens to have the misfortune of being Daalmakhni’s bride-to-be.
Can Younguncle save the village and also Tanuja? Either way, he provides a rollicking read and much humour to keep you coming back to the book again and again.

[Skedatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the first book Younguncle Comes to Town was a series of short stories outlining the escapades of Younguncle, this story is a complete story in and of itself. It was a delightful read that my boys and I really enjoyed. Alas, there are only two books about Younguncle.

Can I say that I love the way that she uses words? I love it. Her sense of humor is right up our alley. For example, the baby is old enough to walk and young enough to just begin using certain sounds but not really speaking and yet discusses the world in terms of philosophy. The children's mother is a person that Speaks in Capital Letters and known in the town as "She who Cannot be Argued With."

Jackfruit Curry!

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like this one as well as I did the first book, Younguncle Comes to Town. I think it was the Quantum Banana spiritualists that did it--a bit over the top. I loved the hotel and the ghosts, and if the story had just been about that, I think I would have been happier. Still, I enjoyed reading about how Younguncle helps the village women and other characters in the story. He reminds me of Mullah Nasruddin of Middle Eastern folklore. I hope Singh writes more of these books!

[Harini Gopalswami Srinivasan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not great, but a pleasant read. The tone is light and amusing, which is great, but the adventure part would have worked better, I think, if the intensity had been stepped up at the appropriate moments.