The Bridge Home
Publisher
Nancy Paulsen Books
Publication Year
2019
ISBN
9781524738112
Pages
194 pages
Genre
realism
Format
novel
Item Type
Fiction
Annotation
Life is harsh in Chennai's teeming streets, so when runaway sisters Viji and Rukku arrive, their prospects look grim. Very quickly, eleven-year-old Viji discovers how vulnerable they are in this uncaring, dangerous world. Fortunately, the girls find shelter--and friendship--on an abandoned bridge. With two homeless boys, Muthi and Arul, the group forms a family of sorts. And while making a living scavenging the city's trash heaps is the pits, the kids find plenty to laugh about and take pride in too. After all, they are now the bosses of themselves and no longer dependent on untrustworthy adults. But when illness strikes, Viji must decide whether to risk seeking help from strangers or to keep holding on to their fragile, hard-fought freedom.
Grade Level
6-8
Lexile Measure
680L
Diversity Topics
Family Relationships; Disability and Health; Family Member Death; Family Violence; Homelessness; Poverty; Developmental Disability; Illness; death of a sister; violence; abusive father; homeless child; financial hardship; poor; child with a developmental disability; sickness; child with an illness
Main Character
female child
Race/Ethnicities
Asian (Indian)
Family Formation
mother and father
Keywords
runaways; street children; India; Chennai
Diversity Impact
direct
STARS Citation
Venkatraman, Padma, "The Bridge Home" (2019). Diverse Families. 2058.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/2058