Click Here To Purchase Taneesha Never Disparaging

Author: M. LaVora Perry

Publisher: Wisdom Publications

An author with a knack for a humorously compassionate story and a snappy character who lends herself to its telling come together in Taneesha Never Disparaging, a middle-grade novel with timeless coming-of-age conflicts related through the frank voice of a fresh, witty, and endearingly flawed girl named Taneesha Bey-Ross. 

This is a tale of commonality and differences, a relevant addition to today’s novels for young readers. In a world where life experiences are more diverse and demanding than ever before, author M. LaVora Perry expertly paints a picture of controversy and differences, a world where growing up means not just learning to accept what we don’t like about others but recognizing what we might not like about ourselves.

Taneesha, a spunky 11-year-old overflowing with spirited opinions, suffers nonetheless with self-consciousness and a need to stand out while still blending in. One of the more diverse characters I have come across in children’s books of late, she embraces (and at times, rejects) her blend of ethnic and cultural identities as an African-American with a Buddhist religion whose best friend is a white girl with a leg brace. Taneesha’s chief conflicts are a bid for class president (which she decidedly does not want) and an older, bigger girl who stalks her on the dangerous walk home from school, a daily journey where Taneesha has seen fights land anonymous kids on ambulance stretchers while adults hide from the violence rather than stopping it. Taneesha also struggles with loving and needing her parents even as she desperately seeks independence from them and their devotion to a religion she only begrudgingly tries to understand. 

In the end, Taneesha finds a surprising answer to her problems in a Buddhist parable about forgiveness and tolerance. She learns that her biggest enemy is the negative voice in her head. And when she quells it, she can finally accept that our differences are sometimes our gifts, life’s occasional hurts come from very human weaknesses, and compassion for oneself and others may be the single most important lesson of life.

For its pointed, relevant treatment of complicated social issues and universal human struggles, Perry’s novel is to be commended and recommended to today’s smart, savvy young readers who are increasingly aware of the strengths and weaknesses of a diverse society and of human character.

The above review was contributed by: Jennifer MacKay. Jennifer is a developmental editor at American Book Publishing and the author of several nonfiction children’s books, including Fingerprints and Impression Evidence. She is an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and reviews children’s books for Library Media Connection and Bookpleasures.com. Click Here to view Jennifer’s reviews.