#408 - Nimmi’s Spectabulous Schooldays
by Shabnam Minwalla
“Nimmi’s Spectabulous Schooldays” by Shabnam Minwalla. Published by Talking Cub, the children’s imprint of Speaking Tiger. A hilarious story of Nimmi Daruwala who is having a dramatic start at beginning of grade 6.
Eleven year old Nimmi Daruwala is looking forward to a new year in school. There are things she doesn’t like in her life like her surname and the bullying classmate Sumit who torments her to no end about it. She has a way with words and loves creating unusual words which are delightful. She just can’t wait to be in Miss Tanvi’s class. After all Miss Tanvi teaches drama and English which are her favourite subjects. She wakes up with a happy thought that the year is going to be spectabulous (spectacular + fabulous). Little does she know what lies in store for her.
Nothing seems to go right for Nimmi. Starting with an ill-fitting skort (skirt or short?!), her tormentor Sumit shifting to her school bus, Miss Tanvi taking off for a year, her BFF (best friend forever) Sophia talking and behaving differently and a new teacher Miss Atmaja who is no less than a vampire for Nimmi and her classmates. Nimmi gets labelled as the troublemaker of grade 6 on the first day of school itself by Miss Atmaja. She finds herself getting lonelier with Sophia having changed her loyalties and joining the snooty Alisha Dubash and her devilish gang. Then there is a sabotaged birthday party where almost everything goes wrong. Read this rib tickling book to know about Nimmi’s dramatic time in grade 6.
My nine year old and I had a whale of a time reading this hilarious book. While poor Nimmi was having a terrible time, we couldn’t stop giggling. The word play is just brilliant and the fun is unlimited. The story takes the reader on a roller coaster ride and every school going child will relate to what happens in the story. Friendships, grouping, changes in groups, escapades in school, bullying, getting into trouble and the travails of middle school can be found in the plot. The birthday party which was nothing short of a complete disaster all thanks to the boys attempting to do “juju” was the icing on the cake for my son. He just couldn’t stop guffawing. I am pretty sure that he is going to remember it for quite some time. This is the first book of the Nimmi series which has four books now. We are already reading the second one as I write this. My son couldn’t resist to read it right away :) Overall the book is irresistible for its brilliant wordplay and humour. The series looks promising and we just can’t wait to read the other books.
Recommended Age
The book is apt for children aged 9 and above.
Reasons to Read
For some brilliant wordplay and generous dose of humour which every school going child will be able to relate to and relish :D
Where to buy from?
The publishers Talking Cub here.