Misfit Madhu
by Divya Anand and illustrated by Vedushi Sinha
“Misfit Madhu” by Divya Anand and illustrated by Vedushi Sinha. Published by Penguin. A riveting story of a class VII student who is faced with a dilemma when the app that she created goes viral and eventually gets used to sell leaked test papers.
Madhu is a shy class VII student who has spent her summer holidays holed up in her room coding her dream app. It is called “School Santhe” and used for trading things with other people by listing items and bidding. The app goes viral unexpectedly and Madhu has to embrace the newfound popularity. Suddenly everyone knows her and she is, for a change, being praised. She was used to being bullied and called mean names by her classmates but this was so different.
Madhu finds herself getting a golden opportunity of a lifetime when she is asked to participate in the first edition of GoTek Appstars contest for school children. The winner will get a whopping prize of one lakh Rupees and a chance to spend a day in the GoTek office interacting with their developers to refine the app and put it in the App Store. GoTek is her dream company and it’s CEO Jiya Hari is her role model! Then comes a sudden glitch just like the sudden popularity. School Santhe is used by a mysterious person called Professor Pareto to sell leaked test papers. What will Madhu do when she gets to know? Does she have time to figure out who the culprit is? Will she continue with the app and pretend that she doesn’t know? Can she let her app be part of some criminal actions? How will she face everyone when she starts getting blamed for the mess that is attributed to her app? Will she still be able to participate in the contest? Read the absorbing story to know how Madhu has to take one of the hardest decisions of her life.
My eight year old son and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. It kept us on the edge of our seats. We felt ourselves getting drawn into Madhu’s world and experiencing a myriad of emotions. The illustrations enhanced the effect. There are so many themes in the story like class politics, groups, jealousy, bullying, friendships, school spirit, passion, rivalry, fun, sibling vagaries, debugging, sleuthing, standing up for what’s right, making proper and informed choices, body shaming, empathy, standing up to bullies and so on. There are multiple layers in the story. All the masala that one can expect in a middle school child’s life. The topic is so contemporary and relatable for children of current times.
My son ensured that we read the book quickly despite having his exams as he was curious to know what would happen next. He found the topics quite relatable and was impressed by Madhu’s coding abilities. Of course the dreaded question of “How come phones are allowed in their school?” also cropped up but was forgotten soon enough thanks to the plot getting thicker. He was amused to see code snippets in the book and remembered trying to do some basic coding last summer to make his robotic ball move around :) Coincidentally he had used Python for coding just like Madhu does in the book. He keeps talking about the different characters from Madhu’s class. And now he is eager to know if there is another book like this coming up by the author! :)
Recommended Age
The book is apt for children aged 9 and above.
Reasons to Read
The story has multiple themes which are contemporary and relatable for a child going to school.
Disclaimer - We received this book from the publisher, Penguin India, for review. Thank you to Greeshma and Mansi, from Penguin, for sending across the book!