How much can one place mean to a community? Eleven desi authors aim to answer in The Door Is Open, a heartfelt collection of interconnected middle-grade short stories edited by Hena Khan (Amina's Voice).
Eleven desi families who live in the fictional town of Maple Grove rely on the community center as a gathering place. It's where they host cultural and religious events and ceremonies, as well as spelling bees, band practices, and chess tournaments. But the community center is at risk of being shut down. Short stories early in the book note rumors of the community center's close, such as Veera Hiranandani's "Check Yourself" about Chaya, a girl determined to win a chess tournament. The center becomes increasingly more central until the book's culmination, "The Map of Home" by Sayantani DasGupta, focuses on the families' efforts to save their meeting place.
The Door Is Open is a wonderful celebration of the commonalities and differences across desi ("people originating from the Indian subcontinent," as defined in the acknowledgments) cultures. The writers of The Door Is Open introduce readers to a variety of those cultures through food, celebration, practices, and language. At the same time, these stories bring new perspectives to the challenges facing many preteens. Issues of racism, bullying, sexuality, abuse, and insecurity are deftly handled and, if not fully resolved, at least brought to a satisfying conclusion. The Door Is Open is a sharp, insightful celebration of how heritage can both make us distinct and bridge us together. --Kyla Paterno, freelance reviewer