Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

The Samosa Rebellion is a wonderful middle grade novel that addresses xenophobia.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was really interesting to me in that it took current immigration disagreements and placed them in a semi-fictional setting. On the island of Mariposa everything is pretty good until the president decides that true Mariposans are only ones who have been there for hundreds of years. They are "butterflies" while newer immigrants like Muki and his family are moths. His plan is to get rid of the moths by relocating them either back to where they originally came from or somewhere else.

Can Muki and his friends and family fight back? And how?

I did like the story and the samosa part was quite clever. I did find it a bit heavy handed but that may just be me. I have a feeling this may end up on our state list and it is one I would help to promote.

Sekaran's intent is pretty clear. While the details are fictional, the parallels to elements in our modern life are pretty strong. And through this book we see the affect on these attitudes on young children, the way they internalize racism and how fear affects their development. It's not subtle but is a decent way to introduce social issues into a group setting.

I loved this book for its setting. I remember looking up book reviews, author talks, and maps after reading this book to find the island of Mariposa only to find that the book may not be based on a real location. However, because of the vivid story, the setting felt very real. The butterflies in the novel reminded me of my favorite read when I was a kid, The Things with Wings by Gregory Holch. Then there was the added element of the comparison of people as butterflies and moths as though being an immigrant to a country made you a nuisance or an "other". The rest of the story was just so innovative and imaginative in its craft. This is a great middle grade read, especially in this day and age.

This is really beautifully written and the voice of Muki feels authentic. Readers will be drawn to Muki's story.

Timely message about treatment of immigrants by those in power. Much, his friends, and family are all likable and believable. Slow pacing (especially at the beginning) may deter younger readers.

Samosa Rebellion is incredibly timely, exploring the impacts of migration on a family as the government decides to stoke the flames of xenophobia and blame immigrants for all the "problems" of their society. Sounds achingly familiar, no? Yet the story is filled with rich imagery -- showing, not telling, young readers of the ways that this hurts. As rebels against these nationalistic views, middle grade readers will also be reminded of the power of their voice to create change in the world around them.

Sekaran makes an interesting choice in setting her story - which has plenty of overlap with conversations both past and present about nationalism, immigration, racism, in-groups/out-groups, etc -in a fictional place. In some ways I thought it worked in allowing the invented terminology to be thematically consistent (government drones are called dragonflies, immigrants are moths while those with longer-term roots are butterflies) not to mention tying into Muki's presentation at the end, but it sometimes made things seem almost too simplistic, and the worldbuilding didn't seem to expand quite enough - time period, for example, was somewhat murky and confusing, and the choice to use nut/legume names for certain characters came off as goofy and almost oddly satirical. Overall the managing of the themes themselves, also seen in Salazar's Land of the Cranes, Cisneros's Efrén Divided, and Yang's Front Desk, was capably done, and Muki comes off as a readable, winning narrator. Might be a good companion read with historical fiction such as They Called Us Enemy, Cuba in My Pocket, When the World Was Ours, or I Lived on Butterfly Hill.

Muki has always lived in Mariposa. He knows his Indian heritage makes him look different than many of the kids at his school, but he's always identified himself as Mariposan first. When the government begins to separate people as either Butterflies or Moths, Muki and his friends must stand up for what they believe to be right - no matter how dangerous it is. The author uses a fictional country, to address difficult issues like xenophobia, classism, and mass misinformation faced by many today.

It took me a little bit to get hooked but I’m so glad I stuck with it. The overall theme of the beauty in migration is so powerful. The main character and his family are at risk of being relocated to a foreign country as their home country of Mariposa begins removing the newer generation of immigrant families. Muki and his friends find themselves involved in a rebellion, started by their parents, and end up as crucial players. This book would be great for discussing immigration and the contributions of immigrants with students and children.

E ARC provided by Netgalley

Muki Krishnan lives on the (fictional) Mariposa Island with his parents, who immigrated there from India before Muki was born so his mother could take a job in a research laboratory. Since his grandmother, Paati, misses the family so much, she moves to Mariposa as well, so that she can watch Muki when his mother is busy and his father is working long hours at the takeaway shop he runs. Muki has a scholarship to the prestigious Marble Hill Preparatory Academy, which is a one hour subway ride away from where he lives in Oceanview. There is only one other Indian student in his class, Raju. While their mothers are friends, Muki would rather hang out with his friend in the neighborhoo, Fabi, and is not sad that he is paired with Tinley Schaedler for a project. Unfortunately, her father is a general supporting the president, Birch Bamberger, who has decided that "Mariposa should be for Mariposans". Immigrant families like Muki's, no matter how long they have lived in the country, are considered "Moths", whereas the original families (who came from other places) are "Butterflies", and feel that even though the country is wealthy, "Moths" are taking resources away from the people who really deserve them. Muki and his friends even find a camp that is set up to hold detainees from different countries, which is exactly what it turns out Bamberger wishes to do. When this hits the news, resistance groups start to form, and Muki's family is very interested in this, especially when Paati is taken and detained in a camp. Muki is not supposed to have anything to do with Tinley, but the two have become friends while working on their project and keep seeing each other, especially since they find out about others in Tinley's household who don't support the initiative to remove people. When Bamberger starts to round up people, will Muki and his family and friends be able to help stop him?
Strengths: Muki's experiences as a second generation Mariposan mirror those of many people in the US. The family moves so that the mother can get a good job, but the father's credentials don't follow him, so he has to find other employment. They live in a neighborhood that is primarily other immigrant families. Muki gets a scholarship, but doesn't feel entirely comfortable in his fancy school where there are few people who share his background. The government's attempts to round up people are aided by tiny spy cams called "dragonflies", which make this almost futuristic and dystopian. The government forces are called Crickets because of their uniforms, and the end up being not quite as evil as one would suppose. The revolution unfolded in a rather simple and bloodless way, but this makes it more accessible to younger readers who might want to know about revolutions but aren't quite ready for the devastation of some real ones.
Weaknesses: I kept wondering if Mariposa was a real place, and if this was historical fiction because the descriptions were so vivid.
What I really think: This was a bit more like The Mouse That Roared (although not as satyrical) or Medoza's Sanctuary than Athaide's Orange for the Sunsets. I wish there had been a definite statement that Mariposa was entirely fictional. This reminded me a bit of Agosin's I Lived on Butterfly Hill where the story is set in Chile of the 1960s, but the names of political leaders are changed.

Sorry, this just didn't grab me. I didn't even finish it. A worthwhile effort showing how the migration of people from all over the world add richness to the fictional country Mariposa, but it fell short on capturing my attention.
I can't see where kids will pick this up on their own or read it even when assigned.

Muki Krishnan is the son of Indian immigrants who moved to the wealthy fictional island nation of Mariposa well before Muki's own birth. Muki has always identified as Mariposan, so he's caught by surprise when the island's seemingly amiable president decrees that the citizenry is to be divided into "butterflies" (those whose family have been citizens of Mariposa for more than three generations) and Moths (those whose families immigrated within three generations or less). Moths, the president decrees, are to be removed from Mariposa following accusations that the poverty of the lowest classes of Butterflies is caused by the influx of Moths moving in and "taking all the jobs" (and certainly not because of the uber wealthy 1% of Butterfly elites who also manage to occupy the top governmental and industrial roles). After learning that his parents are part of an island wide secret resistance movement, Muki quickly becomes a rebel himself while simultaneously working with and befriending the most popular girl in school...who also happens to be the daughter of the president's right hand military man.

Overall the book is fast moving and engaging with plenty of key plot points that could easily lead to fruitful discussion in a classroom setting. It stumbles a bit at the end in my opinion, rapidly wrapping up in a manner that is rather hard to believe. Still the book is solid overall and could easily be paired with any number of additional readings, fiction and nonfiction, about civil rights, revolution, and juvenile social justice fighters.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy. This book was absolutely much deeper and more meaningful than I had anticipated. I was initially interested in how it portrays Indian culture, found that it features Hindus and not Muslims, and honestly, the fact that this book did not match my initial expectations is great! The whole world needs to read this book, especially with the anti-immigrant and racist rhetoric we have in the media. The themes of diversity, inclusion, acceptance, and immigration really shine through. I love the metaphor of comparing people to moths or butterflyies when looking at skin color is an excellent way to portray this difficult topic to children. I love how clean and peaceful this book is. The adventure and plot kept me hooked. Of course, the descriptions of stuffed foods like samosas, dumplings, empanadas, and fortune cookies are always welcome, but the role they played in rebellion and revolution was brilliant. I am already recommending this book for a mandatory reading list at our school, as soon as it is published. Thank you for a happy ending!

On the one hand, this book did a really excellent job of conveying the creeping sense of doom as a country turns toxic around you, and the secondary characters were interesting and complicated. On the other hand, several parts of the book relied on the reader not stopping to think too hard about logic (sure, tell your child all the details of the extremely dangerous top secret resistance. And why not keep your prisoner, not even tied up, in the munitions room surrounded by weapons that he doesn’t even try to use until the main character arrives to rescue him...?) and the ending was way too pat and simplistic to fit with the thoughtful and nuanced treatment Mariposan society got during the book’s setup.

Still, it was an entertaining read and did have a lot of good things to say, so I’m going to recommend my library gets it.

This novel was very well written. The author’s use of metaphors and similes really added to the description and feel of the place. Muki lived on Mingus Avenue. I have such a vivid picture of his neighborhood in my mind, I feel like I saw it on TV. I know what Mingus Ave. looked like (narrow streets and small, close together homes above people’s businesses, and butterflies everywhere) sounded like, (the creaking of the clothesline’s that stretch from the upper window of one building to another as the clothes are brought in, the sounds of awnings being opened...) felt like (the sunshine, the wet, almost daily rain) and smelt like (the fresh baked pastries of the various shops, the spicy curry and chai tea.)

I thought that this book was rather heavy for a MG read. If the main character was a few years older, this would have been an incredible YA novel; I just worry how it will be accepted with the MG crowd. Especially the younger side of that age range. However, Muki was the hero of this story, and kids love when kids are the heroes. I don’t think that this is a book that, when my kids were in the MG age range, they would have picked up on their own to read. Or if they did, they would have quickly set it down. BUT, as a read aloud, they would have sat and listened to me reading it to them and probably would have really enjoyed it. This is definitely one that, as a parent, I would want to discuss with my kids after they read it.

There is also a lot of comedy interwoven with the seriousness. I laughed quite a bit. The author did a great job with balancing the two. She also did a great job at explaining such a serious topic to children in a way that is easy for them to understand. It’s an important book that ultimately taught that 1. A place benefits from having many different people. . 2. It is important to stand up for what you believe in. 3. Even as a child, you can make a difference in the world.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.