A Bit of Earth by Karuna Riazi
Published by Greenwillow Books on March 14, 2023
ISBN: 0063098660
Genres: Realistic Fiction
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads

In this contemporary retelling of The Secret Garden, Maria finds herself moving from house to house after the death of her parents. She finally lands on Long Island, far away from Bangladesh where she was born. Prickly all her life, Maria is cautious and distant, not wanting to become too attached before being inevitably sent away again. Things start to change for Maria when she feels drawn to a neglected garden and works to restore it with the help of some neighborhood children. Maria doesn’t realize that she is breaking her own rules by letting herself get close to others, becoming friends with her neighbors and a role model for the people she is living with. This middle grade novel is mostly prose, but readers will enjoy the many chapters that start with a segment of novel in verse. Maria, despite being guarded, is fiercely independent and is a character readers will cheer for. She hangs onto her Muslim roots and Bangladeshi/Pakistani culture which are present throughout the book, and shows readers the importance of having a safe space to plant roots to grow and bloom.

Reviewed by Lindsay Varnum, Orono Public Library