Homeless Bird

Homeless Bird

By Gloria Whelan

5 ratings 18 reviews 6 followers
Interest LevelReading LevelReading A-ZATOSWord Count
Grades 9 - 12Grades 3 - 8X5.334459

The National Book Award-winning novel about one remarkable young woman who dares to defy fate, perfect for readers who enjoyed A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park or Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai.

Like many girls her age in India, thirteen-year-old Koly faces her arranged marriage with hope and courage. But Koly's story takes a terrible turn when in the wake of the ceremony, she discovers she's been horribly misled—her life has been sold for a dowry. Can she forge her own future, even in the face of time-worn tradition? 

Perfect for schools and classrooms, this universally acclaimed, bestselling, and award-winning novel by master of historical fiction Gloria Whelan is a gripping tale of hope that will transport readers of all ages.

Publisher: Thorndike Press
ISBN-13: 9780786240609
ISBN-10: 0786240601
Published on 5/2/2002
Binding: Hardcover
Number of pages: 147

Book Reviews (18)

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The homeless bird book is an amazing book you should read it, it tells you about the Indians life and how they got arranged marriage so it’s a very good book to learn about Indians and how they’re life is

This book is a little sad but still amazing, I really enjoyed reading it! I hope you consider reading it as well!

Thirteen-year-old Koly faces arranged marriage, a type of marriage common in India. Her family is troubled with finding a dowry. The parents of the man's side are very secretive about the condition for their son. The marriage day comes and they are married with coughs in between. A few days later the condition is more worse then before and they go to the Ganga or Ganges River and take a bath. This is a cheerful moment for Koly, who is enjoying the last few hours of her husband's life with him. A few days later, Koly becomes a widow and she is left by herself in a new place. She meets a boy and the fall in love. And finally, it is a happy ending!

saasy queen saasy queen

can someone give me a 180 words summary of homeless bird

This book is AMAZING. I really love her writing and my personal favorite is Angel on the Square. It isn't really a love story, but a little bit.

I think it's a good book. Very sad though.

I decided to read this book because it seemed interesting, and I was right! It is about a girl named Koly .(KO-LEE) She lives in India and has two brothers. I hope you decide to read Homeless Bird! <3 <3 <3

Alyssa U. Alyssa U.

Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan starts out with a 13 year old girl named Koly. Her parents are in the process of searching for a decent husband for her. In order to give the best dowry possible, they must sell many of household possessions, including their prized cow. After having the husband's family being very mysterious of who their son was and his condition, Koly began to worry. When it came to her wedding day, much to her surprise, she looks up to a pale scrawny boy who had to take multiple coughs in between each vow. Koly's life after this was filled with much sorrow, little happiness, and many unexpected twists. My personal overall opinion of the novel was that it was very intriguing. I thought this because the story started out with a topic very unknown and interesting to me, arranged marriage. Right from the start this pulled me into the plot because I wanted to keep learning more. Than as the story went on, it got even better with all of its unexpected changes in events.

Ruchi V. Ruchi V.

Homeless Bird is a story about a girl named Koly who lives in a village in India. Like most girls, Koly has an arranged marriage at the age of 13. After the wedding ceremony she finds out that her husband, Hari is very sick and she was married to him for money. The money does not help Hari, and Koly is soon a widow. Throughout the rest of the story, Koly learns to deal with her sass (mother in law) and finds out how to live her life. Although this novel is sad, I enjoyed reading Homeless Bird. It provided a lot of information about India and its culture. Most of the book had true facts about India and showed the way of how many people live their life today.

Srikar T. Srikar T.

The Homeless Bird is a story about an Indian girl named Koly who is 13 years old. Koly gets married to a boy named Hari, who she does not know.After the wedding ceremony, though Koly and her family find out that they had been tricked by Hari's parents. This is because Hari was really sick and he needed money for the doctor and for the trip to Varanasi, so a dowry was the only way for them to get the money. The rest of the story is about Koly's challenges with her sass(mother in-law) and sassur(father in-law) and how she survives as a widow. Also, this book provides a lot of information of India's citizens. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book, and I recommend that you read it too.

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