Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara

 Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021--San Antonio

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara is a story about children who start disappearing in a poor slum on the far outreaches of a major Indian city.  Although not written specifically for adolescents, it would appeal to them.  The author, after putting her writing project aside because she wasn't pleased how it was going, took it back up later when she realized that telling the story from the perspective of three 9-year-old friends (schoolmates--2 boys and a girl) would make the story work better.  The result is a serious story with lots of humor and charm based upon the naive perspectives and thoughts of the children plus a good use of English as it is often spoken by Indians--maybe because literal translations from the way words or organized in Hindi are then stated in the same format in English:  "We are upgoing to the top floor."  As children start missing in their slum, the main characters become amateur investigators based on their experiences of watching police shows on TV.  It's a good book (listed by TIME as one of the 100 must reads of 2020) and fun to read.  I gave it 4 1/2 stars out of 5.