Book Review - Homeless Bird
Book Review written by Jaya Tripathi
Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan
Homeless Bird is the story of a young Indian village girl who overcomes adversity and extreme hardship to ultimately live a full and happy life on her own terms.
I first heard about this book when a parent expressed his concern about the (in)appropriateness of its selection as required text for 5th graders in a public school in the United States. The book was chosen, he was told, to educate the students about India.
So I set out reading the book with a view to gauging its appropriateness. In doing so, I tried to keep an open mind and not be influenced by the online discussions that had followed. I also asked my son, Jaan, a fifth grader, to read it and express his thoughts. I thank him and his friend, Ryan, for taking the time to read the book and discuss it with me.
But first, a brief backdrop to the story. Thirteen year old Koly lives in a village with her parents and brothers. She longs to attend school but her parents believe that a girl must not waste her time learning. Her family is dirt poor, and so she must spend her days helping with chores. She is soon married to Hari, a young lad of sixteen. Koly’s family sells almost everything they own to get money for the dowry, including their primary means of sustenance, their cow, and a pair of solid silver earrings.
Koly spends days on end embroidering a quilt, also as part of her dowry. She sews a vivid pattern of her life in the village – her Maa in a green sari, her baap riding his bicycle to the marketplace, her brothers playing soccer. She even embroiders the cow under the shade of the tamarind tree in the middle of their courtyard.
Koly sees her husband for the first time on the day of her wedding. Sensing that something is terribly wrong, Koly hides the silver earrings behind a loose brick in the wall, and claims that she has lost them. Later that night, she discovers that her husband is terminally ill. Sass
Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan
Homeless Bird is the story of a young Indian village girl who overcomes adversity and extreme hardship to ultimately live a full and happy life on her own terms.
I first heard about this book when a parent expressed his concern about the (in)appropriateness of its selection as required text for 5th graders in a public school in the United States. The book was chosen, he was told, to educate the students about India.
So I set out reading the book with a view to gauging its appropriateness. In doing so, I tried to keep an open mind and not be influenced by the online discussions that had followed. I also asked my son, Jaan, a fifth grader, to read it and express his thoughts. I thank him and his friend, Ryan, for taking the time to read the book and discuss it with me.
But first, a brief backdrop to the story. Thirteen year old Koly lives in a village with her parents and brothers. She longs to attend school but her parents believe that a girl must not waste her time learning. Her family is dirt poor, and so she must spend her days helping with chores. She is soon married to Hari, a young lad of sixteen. Koly’s family sells almost everything they own to get money for the dowry, including their primary means of sustenance, their cow, and a pair of solid silver earrings.
Koly spends days on end embroidering a quilt, also as part of her dowry. She sews a vivid pattern of her life in the village – her Maa in a green sari, her baap riding his bicycle to the marketplace, her brothers playing soccer. She even embroiders the cow under the shade of the tamarind tree in the middle of their courtyard.
Koly sees her husband for the first time on the day of her wedding. Sensing that something is terribly wrong, Koly hides the silver earrings behind a loose brick in the wall, and claims that she has lost them. Later that night, she discovers that her husband is terminally ill. Sass