Venkatraman, Padma. The Bridge Home. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books, 2019.
ABOUT THE BRIDGE HOME from the publisher’s web site
Four determined homeless children make a life for themselves in Padma Venkatraman’s stirring middle-grade debut.
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.
My Review
Padma Venkatraman was born in India but now lives in Rhode Island. She used her experience during her early years in India, her mother was involved in helping the working children of India, to form the basis for The Bridge Home. It is a poignant story which shares deeply of the struggles of the working children. Venkatraman does an excellent job of describing the setting and situation of the children come from and now find themselves in. She has also done a great job with the voice in the book – Viji tells the story as though she is telling it to Rukku as a memory.
Potential Area of Concern: Christians, generally speaking, have very specific views on other religions. Most Christians believe that there is only one way to heaven. Those who believe this will want to be aware of the Christian or Catholic orphanage in this book which allows prayers to all the gods during their prayer time, even to the point of suggesting non-believers think of good things during the prayer time since they do not believe in God.
The above concern would be my only hesitation at adding The Bridge Home to my k-12 Christian School library. The book is for grades 5 and up. In spite of my concern, I do think that The Bridge Home would be a good addition to a study of India. With proper guidance I think even those who share my concern could find a use for the book in a multicultural study.
I borrowed a copy of The Bridge Home from my public library. This is my honest review.
The Bridge Home
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