The Cobra’s Song

Though her maternal family have long been famed Hindustani classical singers in India, rising sixth grader Geetanjali struggles to vocalize publicly. She feels ill-prepared to sing with white best friend Penn at their small Michigan town’s summertime festival, she fails to intervene when a younger schoolmate is bullied for public singing, and the arrival of her visiting grandmother, Aaji, from Pune, signifies a family performance that she’s not ready to join. Geetanjali’s reluctance to practice with Penn, or attempt most anything that scares her, drives him closer to a new kid who easily calls out injustice. Worries about Aaji’s visible aging and her mother’s focus on Geetanjali’s baby brother soon spiral into further uncertainty around local events: a warmhearted neighbor starts acting strangely after her husband’s death, a newcomer asks Aaji to sing a song whose vibrations attract cobras, and dead mice start turning up with visible puncture marks. Are the threats triggered by baseless fears, or are they clues that portend more? Kelkar (Strong as Fire, Fierce as Flame) centers Indian culture and folklore in a first-person narrative that keenly describes oppressive feelings of guilt and anxiety. Seemingly random details culminate in a layered conclusion that vindicates a persevering heroine realizing her own strength. Ages 8–12. Agent: Kathleen Rushall, Andrea Brown Literary. (May)