The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman

The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman ISBN-13: 9781524738112 Hardcover: 208 pages Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books Released: Feb. 5, 2019

Source: ARC review copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine.

Book Description from Goodreads:
When Viji and her sister, Rukku, whose developmental disability makes her overly trusting and vulnerable to the perils of the world, run away to live on their own, the situation could not be more grim. Life on the streets of the teeming city of Chennai is harsh for girls considered outcasts, but the sisters manage to find shelter on an abandoned bridge. There they befriend Muthi and Arul, two boys in a similar predicament, and the four children bond together and form a family of sorts. Viji starts working with the boys scavenging in trash heaps while Rukku makes bead necklaces, and they buy food with what little money they earn. They are often hungry and scared but they have each other--and Kutti, the best dog ever.

When the kids are forced from their safe haven on the bridge, they take shelter in a graveyard. But it is now the rainy season and they are plagued by mosquitos, and Rukku and Muthu fall ill. As their symptoms worsen, Viji and Arul must decide whether to risk going for help--when most adults in their lives have proven themselves untrustworthy--or to continue holding on to their fragile, hard-fought freedom.


My Review:
The Bridge Home is about children but it's for mature tweens to adults. It's fictional but based on true stories of Indian street children who have run away or been abandoned. The book started with the viewpoint character writing to a sister that she's grieving for as a way to process her grief. In this letter, she talks about the events that led up to that moment: about her and her sister running away from an abusive father, going to a big city, becoming a part of a small gang of street children that become her family, and getting dirty, dangerous jobs. The children do not trust most adults (for good reason), and so try to make it on their own. They stay remarkably cheerful and even hopeful, but it's very sad to see these things happening to children.

The characters acted realistically, and I cared about what happened to them. The dangers of street life added suspense. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd highly recommend this well-written story.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


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