#416 - Tara and the Quest For the Cursed Prince
by Sharika Nair
“Tara and the Quest For the Cursed Prince” by Sharika Nair. Published by Notion Press. A twist to usual fairy tales by moving away from gender stereotypes.
Tara is a thirteen year old girl living in the quaint little village of Bommapatna near Mysuru in South India. She is a talented toymaker and the first teenage entrepreneur in her neighbourhood. She is friends with a ghost of a eleven year old girl called Sharada. She has named the gentle and friendly ghost as Pretu. She runs her own toys shop which has become very popular with customers coming in even from the city of Mysuru. She is always curious and desperate for an adventure. When an opportunity presents itself to her, she is not going to shy away from it.
During her visit to her grandmother’s home, Tara happens to see the queen of Mysuru visiting. She is in distress. Tara’s grandmother was a nanny in the royal palace and knows the queen well. The royal family has had a difficult time in the last two years. An evil Tantrik had abducted the prince who was of the same age as Tara and locked him away in a tower hidden somewhere in the woods. No one knew it’s location and it was believed that the Prince Vikrama had turned into a monster. Tara wants to try and rescue the Prince. She decides to set off on this quest with Pretu by her side. Why should it be that only princes have to rescue princesses locked away in towers?! Read the story to know if Tara can be the knight in shining armour (figuratively) to rescue the Prince.
My nine year old and I enjoyed reading this book which was set in a region familiar to us. My son was amused to see a girl slightly older than him setting off alone on an adventure. It was lovely to see regional words and food being used even though some of the places were fictional. Some of the things which could have been done better is with respect to a couple of names used. Firstly the festival is known as Dasara in Karnataka and not Dussehra. It stood out like a sore thumb when all other facts had such a regional flavour. The second one was the name of the king. It could have been similar to the naming conventions of the royal family of Mysore. While the story is quite short and the plot simple, the traditional gender stereotypes of roles of rescuers being masculine as compared to classical fairy tales have been reversed here. The friendship between Tara and the ghost was appreciable. Tara’s indefatigable spirit and resolve to rescue the prince is something we liked. I cannot give away the plot but there is a nice little message at the end we felt. Sometimes it isn’t the power or strength that can be used to keep someone under control. Our mind can get deceived by simple but clever strategies.
Recommended Age
The book is recommended for children aged 7/8 and above.
Reasons to Read
For a refreshing read with a twist to conventional gender stereotypes in fairy tales and an Indian touch.
Disclaimer - We received this book from the author, Sharika Nair, for review. Thank you for sending across the book Sharika!