Flying in Colors

Aunties tell nine-year-old Pavi that she's asking too many "big women" questions, but she's tired of grown-up secrets. How are babies born? And why do people die? A beautiful debut about family, tradition, and the healing that comes from finding the answers.

It's 1975, Tamil Nadu, South India, and nine-year-old Pavi is living a carefree life with her large intergenerational family. Every day is an adventure. Why not steal 233 mangoes from the neighbor's tree? Or make up grand stories that take her to Jupiter? If only there wasn't a sadness lingering over the family. You see, her uncle Selva died just five months after she was born.

Pavi may have been just a baby when Selva died, but she feels close to him, as if he's watching over her, helping her when she needs it. But she has so many questions about Selva's death. And why does anyone die when they do?

The grown-ups in Pavi's life are hiding something. They dismiss her questions. For instance, when Pavi and her cousins ask about babies, all anyone says is "Little women are asking big women questions." And when she asks about Selva, there are no answers either. Why is talking about life and death so hard? Pavi is tired of grown-up secrets!

But what if those answers can hurt, or bad things happen? Can prayers and traditions really protect those we love? Pavi is determined to find out.

Padma Prasad Reddeppa was born in Chennai, India, and is a poet, writer and painter. Her Indian roots provide the material for her imagination. Several of her short stories have been published in various literary magazines in the US and in India. Padma has a postgraduate degree in English literature and was an English lecturer at Stella Maris College, Chennai, before she migrated to the US. Padma is based in Fairfax, Virginia, where she volunteers for the Fairfax Art League. Flying in Colors is her debut novel.