Kiya and Kinjal are 10-year-old fraternal twins, sister and brother, and they team up to try to solve the mystery of why water pari (winged merpeople) are falling ill in the water world of Pari-desh. Kiya chides her brother for being chaotic and impulsive; Kinjal chides his sister for being perfectionistic (dubbing her “Dr. Perfecto”). Their parents are away at a parent-teacher meeting when the two are called away to engage in world-saving.
Sayantani DasGupta’s Secrets of the Sky: The Poison Waves, the second in a series, is well seeded with references to the first work. The earlier adventure apparently involved their fighting a minister who was handing out a “bee-killing pesticide throughout the kingdom” for free… and harming bees, which are important for pollinating crops, among other things.
The two have superpowers as well. Kiya can make earthquakes, and Kinjal can move water. They are supported by flying horses, Snowy and Raat. They have a beloved Labrador dog called Thums-Up, the name of the twins’ mother’s favorite soda (growing up in Bangladesh).
This team takes on gear to be able to go underwater, and Kiya transforms physically to a form similar to a winged mermaid. Thums-Up turns into a small pakkharaj horse, with a bubble of air around her head. They travel to the underwater world to investigate the reasons for the sickness f both the merpeople and other fauna and various undersea flora.
The characters are well illustrated in grayscale images by Sandara Tang, who captures their individual personalities and their interactive dynamics.
The book makes some light references to science kits and a test for pH balance of the ocean waters. There are references also to democratic politics and term limits (for real). There is mythology and history referred to a well. A multiverse is assumed as a matter of course.
It turns out that the twins’ father is a rightful king of the Kingdom Beyond Seven Oceans and Thirteen Rivers. The existence of Kiya and Kinjal are a threat to those who have usurped power, particularly King Sesha. The twins’ mother is a magical rakkhoshi.
This group encounters various puzzles they must solve. They encounter an eel squadron of the Serpent King. They meet individuals who may not be deserving of trust. They have to battle Heliocrocs. They have to escape the King’s guards who are sent after them as enemies of the state.
They have allies, too, with magical powers, who help them in their endeavors.
The book is fairly didactic, to inspire readers to not fall victim to apathy (known as the Great Blah) and always to try to make the world a better place. A repeated mantra is the following: “Everything is connected to everything.” The last third of the book is replete with corny jokes [Q: What do you call an owl who can do magic? A: A Hoo-dini.], but these do play a role in helping solve the challenges of the mysterious illnesses.
Within the text is a reference to the mythology of the Thakurmar Jhuli, described as “an old book from the Kingdom Beyond.” [It turns out that the text is a reimagining of an actual Bengali collection of folktales, as noted in the book’s afterword.]
Throughout the adventures, the characters work together and banter energetically. Often, the writing involves telling instead of showing. In one part, there is a fainting mop [“Kiya’s braids felt like ropes dragging at her scalp, and Kinjal’s hair looked like a wet mop that had fainted, then kerplopped on his head”]. The action is written as if this were a movie, with plenty of visual references and action.
Sayantani DasGupta, the author, was trained as a pediatrician. She is currently a college professor at Columbia University and a parent.
Shalin Hai-Jew has worked in higher education for many years. She has edited dozens of nonfiction educational books and authored a dozen with a number of publishers.
