This was my first reding in English. The book it's a collection of short stories easy to read for second language learners. Not the best book, neither my favorite but it was ok for a reading exercise. ( )

This is a collection of nine stories from India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. I had three favourites. (1) The Stepmother: This is about a young boy's psychological battles with his new stepmother. The stepmother is very cool and very clever. (2) Missiya, the Wild One: In this story a man remembers his childhood and a woman who caused a scandal in his village. (3) The Inspector of Schools: This is about a tired and worn down schools inspector who one day visits a poor school in the country and gets inspired by the teacher there.
I also enjoyed most of the other stories. Carapace is about a young woman trying to decide whether she should follow her heart or follow her family's wishes about the man she shall marry. The Intelligence of Wild Things is about a family who have grown distant from each other. The Night Train at Deoli is a story about a romantic young man and a woman he sees one day on a train platform. And For a Horseshoe Nail is about a man who sells one of his kidneys.
But there were two stories I was disappointed with. The Kite-Maker is about a family who lose their son. It's actually quite a nice story, but is so short I didn't think there was enough time to feel involved with the story. A Devoted Son is about a father and son's relationship. The son becomes a great success which makes the father proud at first, but gradually the father and son become unable to understand each other.
I still recommend this book though. Together the stories give you a sense of what life in South Asia is like: about things like what is important to people, and how family members relate to each other. And there is a good mix of sad, serious stories and lighter, uplifting stories. ( )

Intermediate-High,