Forced to leave her family at thirteen and marry someone she has never met ...
Koly's parents have arranged a marriage for their only daughter and now, like many girls her age in India, she will leave home forever. She yearns to flee, but tradition dictates that it's too late to turn back. On her wedding day, Koly's fate is sealed.
Caught up in a current of tradition that threatens to sweep her toward a terrifying fate, Koly finds herself cast out, lost in a strange and cruel world. But sometimes, courage and hope can be more powerful than tradition, and fate can be taken into one's own hands.
Books for the Teen Age 2001 (NYPL) and 2000 National Book Award Winner
Websites
Koly's parents have arranged a marriage for their only daughter and now, like many girls her age in India, she will leave home forever. She yearns to flee, but tradition dictates that it's too late to turn back. On her wedding day, Koly's fate is sealed.
Caught up in a current of tradition that threatens to sweep her toward a terrifying fate, Koly finds herself cast out, lost in a strange and cruel world. But sometimes, courage and hope can be more powerful than tradition, and fate can be taken into one's own hands.
Books for the Teen Age 2001 (NYPL) and 2000 National Book Award Winner
Websites
This book is the winner of the National Book Award, but even more important, this book is one that shows the courage and perseverence of a young Indian girl who is married off at a young age to a dying boy whose parents use her dowry money for their son's burial expenses. Young Koly has to find her own way in the world after she is discarded, and her story is inspiring and an insight in the lives of some women in India. Highly recommended!
highly recommended by my daughter
Interesting look into Indian culture that will touch your heart and see the beautiful tapestry created in your mind's eye.
This book is based in India, where a 13-year old girl is getting married. When she finds that the parents of this boy were plotting against her, she left.
I rather enjoyed this book, it was interesting and gave a insight to the world of India
I rather enjoyed this book, it was interesting and gave a insight to the world of India
This is a sad,compelling story of a young girl in an arranged marriage who finds strength within herself to overcome dire circumstances.
I loved this book. The role of widows in this country was an eye opener and reminded me to appreciate what I have.
Wonderful story! Very eye opening read for my 13 year old, her book club read it and it made for wonderful discussions about how lucky young women in the US are compared to other parts of the world.
This book is written for older children/teens, but it reads like a first class novel. It's the gripping story of a young girl, Koly, who is married to a young boy so his family can get the dowry. He quickly dies, leaving her a widow in a society that shuns widowed women and treats them like disposable outcasts. Her story is hopeful, but one can only feel sadness for the thousands of women left to live on their own, begging for food, in a society that doesn't respect them.
