HOMELESS BIRD

At 13, Koly finds that her childhood is over as she enters an arranged marriage that ends almost before it has begun. However, there’s no place for young widows in India, no opportunities, no hope. Sarita Choudhury, herself half-Indian and half-English, brings a lovely Indian cadence to her reading of this desperate, but ultimately hopeful, tale. Her first-person narration shines with the resourcefulness of a spirited and intelligent young woman cheated out of her dowry and forced to make her way alone in Vrindavan, the heartless and threatening city of widows. Choudhury’s differentiation of characters is subtle but effective: Koly's stiff and condescending mother-in-law; Sass, her impudent yet kind-hearted friend; and the take-charge Maa Kamala, who takes Koly in and starts her on the path to independence and a new life. This National Book Award winner will transport young listeners to another world. T.B. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 01]