Genie Meanie

By Mahtab Narsimhan and Michelle Simpson

When eight-year-old Kiara discovers that her recently deceased grandmother left her a genie, trapped in a bottle of garam-masala, she’s elated.

She’ll be a modern-day Aladdin and have someone to do her bidding. And Kiara could really use a little magic. Third grade is just about to start and she’s spent the summer worried about being in class with Matt, a bully who seems to have nothing else to do but make Kiara and her best friend Bai’s lives miserable. Unfortunately, the genie has decided he's on vacation after working for ten thousand years and is looking for someone to do his bidding. A battle of wills ensues, and Kiara realizes that you don’t really need magic to solve your problems.

The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
• Release date: Feb 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781459824003

Mahtab Narsimhan

Mahtab Narsimhan is the award-winning author of several books for young readers, including Embrace the Chicken, Mission Mumbai, The Tiffin and The Third Eye, which won the Silver Birch Award. She was a Writer in Residence at the Toronto District School Board from 2014 to 2016. Born in Mumbai, Mahtab immigrated to Canada in 1997. She now lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Book preview

Chapter One

I missed Gran so much, it was like having a stomachache that wouldn’t quit. No one could fill the hole in my heart that she’d left when she died. Not Grandpa, who was visiting from India, and not my parents or my best friend, Bai Leng. Grandpa had brought a box of treasures Gran wanted me to have, but this made me miss her even more.

Gran was the only one who’d understood that school was tough. Kids could be super mean. She’d encouraged me to stand up for myself if anyone tried to bully me. Never give up trying to do the right thing, no matter how hard it is, she would say. But try not to hurt anyone either. How was I going to face another year of school without her?

I frowned at the odds and ends I’d tipped out of the box onto my bed. Why had Gran left these things for me? A crow’s feather, a yellow pencil stub, a necklace made of wrinkled brown beads, a rusty key and a small glass bottle with some kind of spice in it. I searched for a note. Nothing.

What was I going to do with the spice? Mom didn’t let me use the stove—Gran had known that. All of this stuff was junk—wait a minute. I stared at the bottle. It was labeled Zayn Garam Masala. A wisp of blue smoke seemed to waft up and down inside it, and I had the weirdest feeling it was trying to escape.

Kiara sits cross-legged on her bed with her grandmother's box open. A key, a feather, a pencil stub, and a beaded necklace flow out of the box. Kiara holds a mysterious bottle of of wispy smoke. All images in this book are illustrations unless otherwise stated. The illustrations in this book reflect diversity in race, ethnicity, culture, nationality, geographical setting, religion, age, ability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and class. Out of respect for that authentic diversity, the alt text has been written without making any assumptions about the identities of people and/or characters depicted in the illustrations. The illustrations in this book are drawn in pen and ink, cartoon style.

I rattled the bottle.

Oi! Stop!

Startled, I looked around. Who said that? My desk and chair returned my gaze mutely.

Kiara! Mom called from downstairs. Dinner’s ready!

I was dying to examine the bottle more closely, but Mom liked everyone at the dinner table on time. I scooped up Gran’s things and put them back into the box. Except the bottle of garam masala. I picked it up. Ouch! It was so hot, I dropped it. Oh no! Luckily it landed on the carpet with a thud.

Watch it, butterfingers!

What? Who? Come out and show yourself! I said, inching toward the door. Bai had texted to let me know he was back from his vacation in China and had precisely one day to get ready for school. I needed to ask if he knew anything about ghosts, because either my room was haunted or I was losing it, but I’d have to wait until tomorrow.

No one appeared. I was the only kid in this house. But the voice I was hearing in my head also belonged to a kid. It kind of sounded like this horrible boy in my class,

Reviews for Genie Meanie

[jennybeast · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Kiara dreads going back to school and into 3rd grade, especially since her beloved grandmother has just died. She know that she will face bullying, but things get even worse when her best friend ditches her after she runs away rather than stand up for him. In the meantime, her grandma left her a genie who seems to eat and boss her around more than grant wishes.

Pretty standard school story, but I loved that Kiara eventually had to figure out a way to deal with the bully herself -- I'm not sure that the message of blackmail instead of telling an adult is the best message, but I can see why that would appeal to a lot of kids who don't feel like they can trust adults to fix things. Very up to date, and reads as older than 3rd grade -- Kiara has a phone capable of taking videos and texts her best friend Bai. She's got $50 saved in her puppy fund, so it's also set in a middle to upper class family. Love Bai and Kiara's hilarious India vs China rivalry (all in fun) and Zayn's love of costuming, which makes him pretty gender fluid in the illustrations. Clever, upbeat, all about self-empowerment. Wish Kiara didn't skip meals when she's feeling upset, but I love that her mom is always down for her to eat.