- you can’t go wrong with a good witchy, middle grades graphic novel about family and friendship!
- I loved the representation in this one! South Asian lesbian moms!!! I had so many students who would’ve seen themselves in this book, and I would’ve added it to my library in a heartbeat.
- I loved the magical system in this one. There’s so many interesting ways that this universe could be explored, and I really hope they’re sequels.
- I love the way light and dark or good vs evil/chaos was explored. This is such a key concept for this age group, and it was done really well!
- the illustrations were incredible! I’d highly recommend a physical book to really appreciate some of the larger spreads.

Shakti by SJ Sindu, illustrated by Nabi H. Ali. HarperAlley, HarperCollins Children’s Book, 2023.
Thank you HarperAlley for providing an e-book copy through NetGalley.

Rating: 1-5 (5 being a starred review) 4.5
Genre: Fantasy Graphic Novel

What I Liked: Shakti is sick of moving from place to place because of her mom’s job.
She has a hard time making friends normally, and moving only adds to the loneliness. So, when one of her moms gets pregnant and they settle down in Amherst, Massachusetts, Shakti hopes that this will be their permanent residence and that she can finally make some friends. Luckily, her prayers are answered when, on the first day of seventh grade, Shakti bonds with fellow classmate Xi over manga and weird food choices, and the two quickly become good friends. Unfortunately, she also catches the attention of HEK - the school’s meanest girl group - who decide that Shakti will be their new target for bullying. Xi comforts her as Shakti endures the teasing and awful words until she notices something strange about the school and its teachers. It’s like they are hypnotized to do everything HEK wants them to do and shun Shakti and her friends entirely.

Suspicious, Shakti and Xi investigate and witness HEK performing dark magic to put the whole school under their spell. Shakti, however, is not helpless to their magic, because her own mom is a witch herself! Through ancient Indian magic, her mom teaches Shakti and Xi how to call on the powerful goddess Durga Ma to stop Hek, but warns about the goddess’s dangerous twin, Kali Ma - the destroyer. If Shakti uses magic out of anger, Kali will rise and proceed to ravage the world. Can Shakti summon the strength to call on Durga Ma and stop HEK’s plans, or will she succumb to her anger and unleash Kali Ma upon the innocent?

Shakti is a fun middle grade graphic novel featuring Indian (Hindu) magic, witches, family bonds, and friendship. Shakti is an understandable character with the drive to do what’s right but also the negative emotions that surround victims of bullying. Her moms, though strict, are loving and supportive, and only want the best. Xi is a great support for Shakti, helping every step of the way, even though they don’t have magic of their own. The illustrations are charming, the dialogue realistic, and the portrayal of Hindu goddesses and magic is fun to see. Throughout the graphic novel, Shakti will provide readers with informational blurbs, separate to the story, that explain Indian mythology, beliefs, and magic for those who want more context and want to learn more about the culture. Shakti and one of her moms is Indian, her other mom is African-American, and Xi is East Asian (Chinese). The rest of their friend group is diverse, and HEK is mostly white.

What I Didn’t Like: Nothing!

Who Would I Recommend This To: Kids who like graphic novels, witches and witchcraft, and mythology, especially Hindu mythology.

Review Date: May 2, 2023
Posted to Goodreads: May 3, 2023

You know when you only intend to look inside a book and actually sit down to read it later? Yeah, that is what I thought I was going to do with this book. I ended up reading it when I should have been doing other things, because it grabbed me from the first page, and took me on a wild ride.

Shakti is the first born in her family, and because of that, she has been gifted with power from the goddess Durga Ma. There is magic everywhere, but having the goddess help you focus it, makes it work better and stronger.

And in typical middle grade stories, there are bullies, and the teachers don’t seem to notice the bullies. But for once, there is a good reason for that. The bullies have used magic to make it so that the adults only see them do good things.

Shakti, who is new to the school, refuses to let them win, so she calls on the goddess, but on the dark side, because she is angry, and all heck brakes loose.

Beautiful illustrations. Fun, quick adventure. What more could you ask for?

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book comes out from Harper Collins the 23rd of May 2023.

It’s never easy being the new kid: new home, new school, new enemies. Shakti feels like she’s on this never ending circle of being new. Now living in Amherst MA with her two moms, Shakti meets Xi and things seem to turn around..until she is “introduced” to HEK, the three bullies who seem to have a strange hold on the teachers and students. They discover that the HEK are casting spells in the woods and Shakti chooses to seek the assistance of Durga Ma to break the spell HEK has over everyone. Of course, things go wrong. She conjures Kali Ma, the “evil” twin of Durga Ma and chaos ensues. Will Shakti be able to let go of her hate?

This was a beautifully drawn graphic novel. I loved learning about the Indian culture and watching how Shakti finds herself and learns that it’s ok to be just who she is and to let go of hate. Strong feminist representation throughout the GN. The MS girls will flock to this story!

Wow, this absolutely blew me away. This is pretty much a perfect graphic novel. It has so much heart, the right amount of magic and mythology mixed into a contemporary setting, and amazing family and friend relationships. I'm definitely going to have to pick up a physical copy so I can reread it lots!

I’m critical of “representation” as an uncomplicated analytic, especially when it takes the form of checkboxes—good [insert broad identity here] rep! That doesn’t mean I don’t love those rare moments when I see myself represented in some highly specific way. The second slide here was one of those. Have I ever seen a representation of a queer Tamil woman who actively practices Hinduism? I’m holding this illustration—and the whole book—close to my heart.

Novelist SJ Sindu's sharp writing and imagination that draws on a feminist vision of Hindu traditions pairs perfectly with Nabi H. Ali's gorgeously detailed, full-color illustrations. Middle-schooler Shakti has just moved to Amherst, MA with her moms—Terri, a graduate student, and Rita, a programmer and witch. Rita’s family, including Shakti, has a special connection to Durga that strengthens their prayers and spells.

At first, Shakti leaves the magic to her mom, but at school, she finds that everyone is suspiciously enthralled by three mean girls: Harini, Emily, and Kelly, or HEK. Everyone but her new friend Xi, that is—especially after they discover that HEK are casting a spell to cause this. Rita teaches the two a few tricks for protection. On the night of Halloween and Durga Puja Shakti tries to invoke Durga to defeat HEK—but with anger animating her, accidentally invokes Kali instead, with scary consequences for everyone around. I loved how Sindu depicted Durga and Kali as two sides of the same coin, with interludes that provide the perfect amount of explanation and feel like they’re coming from a middle-schooler who lives these stories.

There were so many little touches I loved here. In a subtle dig at colorism, Durga is depicted as dark-skinned instead of alabaster-pale like she usually is. At the end, Shakti’s little brother is shown to have a connection to Durga even though Terri gave birth to him, validating forms of inheritance in queer families. Shakti covers family, tradition, bullying, messy emotions, forgiveness and is beautiful in every way.

First, the illustrations in this are INCREDIBLE. Truly fantastic. Second, I LOVED the history of witches lessons throughout, as well as the Hindu mythology. I loved learning so much while reading this. And third, I just thought the story was really great. I really enjoyed this.

Middle-grade graphic novel, witchy with Hinduism.

I really enjoyed learning about Durga Ma and Kali Ma. Very interesting and something I've never read about before. There is also queer and diverse rep. Which I love to see. The art is beautiful. As someone newer to graphic novels, I really enjoyed this! Following the author for more :)

Shakti is a middle grade graphic novel with gorgeous artwork and a lovely story of family, friendship, and standing up to bullies while taking personal responsibility.

This feels on the younger side of middle grade and likely great for 4th and 5th grade.
This is the story of a girl and her two moms (Shakti’s new best friend is also queer) who move around a lot and are expecting a new baby sibling. Shakti’s family comes from a line of magic. They have a little extra power and practice some witchcraft.
I had not read before about Durga Ma and Kali Ma and found this to be a great introduction to them. The author does a great job interspersing the back/origin stories of both goddesses in a way that feels natural.
I would recommend this to fans of Aru Shah, The Serpent’s Secret, The Okay Witch, and Witches of Brooklyn.

I just finished "Shakti" by SJ Sindu and there's so much going on in my head that I want to say, I don't know where to begin.

First off, the illustrations, by Nabi H. Ali, were absolutely incredible. They were original and bursting with colors, enrichening the story and providing life to each and every moment.

The story is of a middle school girl, Shakti, who is descended from the Hindu goddesses, Durga-ma and Kali-ma. Her mothers, whom she calls Mom and Amma, have had to travel around different part of the US the past few years due to Shakti's Mom's university education. They have now landed in Amherst, MA, for Mom's Phd program, and right away Shakti can tell something is off. Amma, who is also descended from Durga-ma and Kali-ma, has yet to teach Shakti magic, but circumstances soon change that, as the town is threatened by a larger threat.

"Shakti" is a beautiful graphic novel, all about finding oneself and becoming comfortable with who you are. It's about learning how to accept that feeling emotions are valid and important to have, while not letting them control who you are.

I loved learning about Durga-ma and Kali-ma, as well. None of the story was in-your-face about the lessons on family, on being comfortable with oneself and feeling emotions.

This is a perfect story for middle schoolers and I highly recommend it.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher and author for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Shakti describes the joining of light and dark and accepting all parts of ourselves, not just the good parts. Sindu lovingly shows how the more we try to hard the dark parts of ourselves, the more they creep up into our everyday lives. This book has wonderful queer representation and has so many strong characters of color. I would definitely recommend this book to students of any age wanting to learn to love and accept themselves.

Nice graphic novel with magic and mythology. It will have a large audience in my 3rd - 5th grade library.

I wish there was a little less "telling" of the back story, though. It would have felt stronger to me to just have her whole story told in a little more linear fashion without so many flashbacks... although the flashbacks might work a bit better for me if they showed the story of the goddesses as if it were happening instead of someone telling us about it.

Even with those structure issues, I still enjoyed this book and it hit its stride about halfway in.

I cannot wait to purchase this Graphic Novel for my friends children. This is an amazing story that should be shared. Thank you to the author, Net Galley, and the publisher for allowing me to read this in advance for my honest opinion.

If you love to see a powerful young girl doing everything she can to not only protect her family but also her area you're in for a treat. This graphic Novel gives us the chance to see that Indian tradition has many intricate and interesting stories that are available for one to look at. The legends here felt realistic, like something could go awry at any moment.

The family and characters are diverse in the fact that there are all different ethnicities and locals to the characters and there are also. Each moment felt like it was leading to something and the desire to help ones community really helped me lock in on the premise of this novel. I honestly loved the story board of this one.

This is the kind of wholesome Indian representation that I love to see! The story was engaging; the main characters were relatable, and the ending was everything I wanted it to be.

I really enjoyed reading about the magic & spells that Durga Ma's patronage enabled the family to access!! I'd love to see more graphic novels following Shakti on her adventures.

I wish there were more books like this when I was growing up!!

Shakti is a witch with powers aided by Durga Ma, a goddess. But she is also a middle schooler and dealing with all the challenges that come with that like bullies, crushes, and gross school food. Something doesn’t seem to be quite human about the bullies at her school. As she and her new friends investigate, they have to deal with more than they expected.

I loved so much about this book! Shakti is a strong character, sticking up for others and staying true to herself, even when it’s challenging. There is a strong theme of embracing feelings, even those that are normally labeled as “bad” like anger. Shakti learns that anger is normal and can be fueling, but it can also eat you up inside if you hold on to it. There is also a lot of casual LGBT+ representation, including that Shakti has two moms. There is no bullying about sexuality or gender identity for any of the characters, which is wonderful to see.

Readers who enjoyed “The Okay Witch” by Emma Stienkellner and The Kane Chronicles series by Rick Riordan will love this one, middle grade kids and adults alike!

On the surface I didn't think the story was remarkable. A good story. But nothing outstanding. But the more I sat with this and the more I thought about it... I'm not the intended audience. For a younger audience, I can see this being a lovely introduction to some amazing goddess and some excellent food-for-thought on the duality of nature and our emotions.

And then there's the absolutely beautiful artwork! The textures in the illustrations are just phenomenal; I kept wishing I could reach out and feel what I was seeing depicted. And Kali Ma... I'm always drawn to her, but here... I'm so delighted that she was still shown as a beautiful and fearsome goddess; utterly stunning.

Overall, This is a great book! Perhaps a little straight forward, but still an amazing piece of work.

A sweet graphic novel by two Tamil authors. I liked the story and the somewhat local connection. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This book was full of surprises – good ones, really good ones! This book was so enjoyable and there was so much new information for my (European) child, we had so much to talk about and she learned so many new things from here. Now, because of this book, she wants to know everything there is about Kali and other gods. The book blends magic and real life into a beautiful tale. Even with a huge touch of magic, the book was relatable for a middle grade kid.
The drawings also were really great.
My tween says she wants more books like this one and she wants more from the same author.

I received an e-arc from NetGalley for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley and HarperAlley!

This was a phenomenal book. I was expecting a South Asian book about goddesses and magic, and it is, but the topics it tackled felt more mature than I was expecting (in a great way). It’s lessons about anger, acceptance, and culture were absolutely wonderful, and paired with beautiful art that lended itself to intense action scenes was a perfect match.

The only reasons this book was a 4 star was because I felt the summary gave quite a bit of the plot away and the art initially felt geared towards a younger audience for the first 30ish pages.

Besides that, however, the book was exceptional and I’m excited to see what S.J. Sindhu and Navi H Ali come up with next!