Save Me a Seat

February 22, 2016
An immigrant boy and a long-bullied American kid learn that things aren’t always as they seem in this engrossing and poignant tale from Weeks (Honey) and newcomer Varadarajan. Fifth grader Ravi was a star student back in India, but in New Jersey, his classmates can’t understand his accented English, and his freshly-pressed clothes and homemade curry lunches mark him as different. For Joe, who has Auditory Processing Disorder (“My brain and noise don’t get along”), school has become an ordeal, mostly because the most popular boy in class bullies him at every opportunity. Ravi and Joe’s stories span a single week, with alternating narratives revealing their different perspectives of the same events. Joe’s suffering is acutely felt, especially when his mother displays embarrassing gestures of affection for all to see. As Ravi’s confidence slowly erodes, he begins to question who he is and where he belongs. Anyone who has ever felt like an outsider will appreciate and draw strength from Ravi and Joe as they strive to find the courage to improve their lives. Ages 8–12. Agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties.

Using two narrators is the perfect way to deliver this story, told as the alternating first-person recollections of two fifth-grade boys. Vikas Adam is the voice of Ravi, a recent immigrant from India, and Josh Hurley is the voice of Joe, a boy with auditory processing disorder (APD). Hurley creates a kind character in Joe, speaking softly in a measured voice, which makes it all the more heartbreaking when the listener discovers that Joe is the target of bullies. Fluent in Hindi, Adam provides a perfect accent for Ravi, the smart and confident boy who also becomes the butt of jokes because of his accent and Indian lifestyle. Coming from lands oceans apart, the boys find common ground in the resource room of Einstein Elementary. L.T. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine