Shiva's Fire

Staples, Suzanne Fisher. Shiva’s Fire. New York: Frances Foster Books, 2000.

Shiva’s Fire is a story about tragedy and luck for a young girl named, Parvati who lives in a small South Indian Village named Anandanagar. Her father is killed when a storm hits and her family goes to live with her father’s brother and his family. One day, she is asked by the Guru Pazhayanur Muthu Kuman Pillai to study a sacred dance form called the bharata natyam. Although this sacred dance form is strict, this is how Parvati supports her family and learns that she was born to dance.

With descriptive text and imagery usage, this novel represents traditions and customs that are found within the Indian Culture. Staples depeicts different class levels and customs through her content and researched work on Indian Culture. Staples lived in India for four years where she started writing this novel. With her descriptve text, she has created a character that young adults can relate to while reading this book. They will see a strong woman; a strong, independent character that can inspire them to do what they really want to do. This is all seen through the eyes of an Indian woman. This accurate portrayal of the Indian culture is seen through the ways in which Staples describes the traditional dancing, clothes, and language. She terms the dances and people with the correct names. A helpeful note that I liked about this book is Staples provides a glossary in the back that gives the pronunciation and definition of each word that she used in the book. This will help student's to learn more about the Indian culture while being captured in this novel.