The trials and triumphs of childhood are highlighted in Warjri's vivid stories. Her first pup disappears one night during a thunderstorm with no explanation from her parents. A Christmas tree argument between her father and grandfather results in a shooting on their veranda on Christmas Eve. A child learns the loneliness of boarding school after her parents' divorce, while another observes the disgrace of a school friend who becomes pregnant out of wedlock. Classmates of a boy too poor to stay in school contemplate profound truths about the harshness of fate. A ten-year-old finds resourcefulness in caring for five sick siblings. Another self-actualizing child, forbidden to have a hairy pet, befriends a local alley rat.

The sixteen pieces in this collection can be thought of as parables, with hidden meanings revealed at each story's end. Lessons absorbed by innocent young minds provide the prevailing theme in these gentle coming-of-age vignettes. One especially poignant tale centers around a graveyard that boarding school students pass on the way to class. One day a daring exploit proves that the cemetery can also be a flower garden, putting a different cast on the eerie stories they had been dreaming up.

Warjri lived many of the incidents she portrays. She grew up in India in what seemed a secure family environment, but the idyllic times changed with each year of acquired understanding. Now an English teacher residing in Hong Kong, Warjri's initial foray into writing garnered a prize and encouraged her to continue. She has the gift of letting the reader see through the minds of the children depicted, with language and thought processes appropriate to their age. Her stories can be read by thoughtful youngsters and enjoyed equally by adults, presenting a charming child's eye view of life's vicissitudes.

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