The Reading Warehouse

Every day, nine-year-old Yasmin borrows a book from Book Uncle, a retired teacher who has set up a free lending library on the street corner. But when the mayor tries to shut down the rickety bookstand, Yasmin has to take her nose out of her book and do something.

What can she do? The local elections are coming up, but she's just a kid. She can't even vote

Still, Yasmin has friends -- her best friend, Reeni, and Anil, who even has a blue belt in karate. And she has family and neighbors. What's more, she has an idea that came right out of the last book she borrowed from Book Uncle.

So Yasmin and her friends get to work. Ideas grow like cracks in the sidewalk, and soon the whole effort is breezing along nicely.

Or is it? Maybe it's spinning right out of control.

An energetic, funny and quirky story about community activism, friendship, and the love of books.

UMA KRISHNASWAMI is the author of more than twenty books for children, from picture books (The Girl of the Wish Garden, Bright Sky, Starry City and Out of the Way! Out of the Way!), through novels for young readers (The Grand Plan to Fix Everything). Her books have been published in eleven languages and have been picked for Junior Library Guild selections, CCBC Choices, Parents' Choice, IRA's Notable Books for a Global Society, the Scientific American Young Readers' Book Award, Bank Street Best Books of the Year and the Paterson Prize. Originally published in India, Book Uncle and Me won the Scholastic Asian Book Award.

Born in New Delhi, Uma teaches at Vermont College of Fine Arts in the MFA program in writing for children and young adults. umakrishnaswami.org