Strong as Fire, Fierce as Flame

Reviewed by Paige Pagan

Review Source: Teaching for Change
Book Author: Supriya Kelkar

This is a moving and thought-provoking middle grade historical novel set in British-occupied India in 1857. On the day before Meera’s 13th birthday, she’s expected to move into her husband’s home with his family, as is the Indian custom, but in a twist of fate, he ends up dying in a riot. Although Meera and Krishna were married when they were little, she wasn’t ready to leave her parents for the harsh boy he grew up to be, so she momentarily wonders if destiny is on her side. However, when her devout father reveals that Meera must commit sati, the practice of a widow throwing herself onto her husband’s funeral pyre, she finds herself between two impossible paths — does she abide by tradition and end her life before it has begun or does she run away from her family and home forever to carve out her own destiny? As Meera decides the latter, she discovers that achieving independence is way more complex than she thought.

There is a mature, overarching rumination present in this novel — what does true liberation mean? While there is an age-appropriate and digestible critique on British colonization at the inception of the independence movement, there is also an evaluation of outdated, gender-constricting Indian practices like sati and child marriage. The novel takes place at both a critical and delicate time in India with increased mutinies as the rebels begin to organize and the Rani of Jhansi ascends the throne as the first woman to fight against the British. Kelkar cleverly juxtaposes this evolution with Meera’s family’s stagnance.

Readers get two sides of the coin — one where sati and child marriage are seen as customary by the Indian minority and the other where the Indian majority start to view them as primitive. This analysis isn’t carried out in a condescending way as the author explains the history behind sati, a revered selfless action on behalf of widows so as to prevent themselves from burdening their families and eternally binding themselves to their husbands in the afterlife, becoming memorialized as honorable women. In fact, other practices like Jauhar, a collective self-immolation by women in order to escape capture by invaders when defeat was imminent, was praised as the ultimate act of sacrifice and lauded in historical epics. Although the distinction between the two practices is the involvement of the spouse, the general commentary here is on progression and not a demonization of the past.

Colonization is raised as the ultimate barrier to progress. When Meera begins working for the captain of the British East India Company, she learns about cruel stereotypes of her people when the captain’s wife likens Meera to a monkey climbing a tree in one of her drawings and when they assume all Indians partake in sati, despite the Indian majority already phasing it out before the British declared it illegal. During this time, Meera comes to understand that she can never achieve independence when her country and people are not free. Meera joins the rebel cause with a friend and proves not only that females can contribute just as much as males, but also that age doesn’t matter in the face of activism. The ending will leave readers thinking beyond the text — if 1857 marked the rise of the rebels and independence wasn’t achieved until 1947, Meera would’ve been over 100 years old when the road to freedom opened up.

I recommend this book as a partner text for historical units on war and independence. It can even be brought up in conjunction with coverage on the Declaration of Independence as children learn about universal human rights and ways systemic oppression continues to threaten those rights.

Paige Pagan is a Social Justice Books program specialist at Teaching for Change.

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Strong As Fire, Fierce As Flame by Supriya Kelkar
Published by Lee & Low Books on 2021
Genres: Asian American, Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, South Asian
Pages: 336
Reading Level: Grades 6-8
ISBN: 9781643790404
Review Source: Teaching for Change
Also by this author: Ahimsa

Publisher's Synopsis: Golden Kite Award, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Best Children's Books of the Year, Bank Street College of Education Jane Addams Children's Book Award Honor Book, American Library Association (ALA) Junior Library Guild Selection

In 1857 India, 13-year-old Meera escapes a life she has no say in — and certain death on her husband's funeral pyre — only to end up a servant to a British general in the East India Company. When a rebellion against British colonizers spreads, she must choose between relative safety in a British household or standing up for herself and her people.

India, 1857
Meera's future has been planned for her for as long as she can remember. As a child, her parents married her to a boy from a neighboring village whom she barely knows. Later, on the eve of her thirteenth birthday, she prepares to leave her family to live with her husband's — just as her strict religion dictates. But that night, Indian soldiers mutiny against their British commanders and destroy the British ammunition depot, burning down parts of Delhi. Riots follow, and Meera's husband is killed. Upon hearing the news, Meera's father insists that she follow the dictates of their fringe religious sect: She must end her life by throwing herself on her husband's funeral pyre.

Risking everything, Meera runs away, escaping into the chaos of the rebellion. But her newfound freedom is short-lived, as she is forced to become a servant in the house of a high-ranking British East India Company captain. Slowly through her work, she gains confidence, new friends, new skills — and sometimes her life even feels peaceful. But one day, Meera stumbles upon the captain's secret stock of ammunition, destined to be used by the British to continue colonizing India and control its citizens.

Will Meera do her part to take down the British colonists and alert the rebellion of the stockpile? Or will she stay safe and let others make decisions for her? It really comes down to this: how much fire must a girl face to finally write her own destiny?