Author: Rekha Raghunathan

Rekha Raghunathan played tennis more than she did anything else through school and college. With a mixed background in finance, management, technology and training, she has inched closer to her areas of interest—writing and editing—over the last decade. Since 2015, she has been part of the Word Lab at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) in Bangalore, where she converts research into public writing, conducts writing workshops, and teaches as part of the Urban Fellows Programme. She co-curates an annual urban writings festival, City Scripts, and works closely with the IIHS Library team.
<strong> The Kids Are All Right</strong>:<i> An Intergenerational Tale of Living and Loving YA Fiction </i>
Issue 7 – October 2018

The Kids Are All Right: An Intergenerational Tale of Living and Loving YA Fiction

Two libraries were a big part of my tween years. The first was tidy, organised, and strictly monitored. It was roomy and bright with short wooden bookshelves, many of which were kept locked due to the apparent inappropriateness of the books they held. I visited it once a week during Library period, and more often than not, got into trouble with the librarian at my convent school in Chennai for talking too loudly and having a good time. The second — Senthil Lending Library near my parent’s home — was quite different. A narrow dark room, it had tall open steel bookshelves flanked by many a swirling dust ball. The stacking of the books was chaotic at best, but the librarian knew his way around. He was a nice sort, never bothered by noise as long as the books were returned on or before the due...