
Boys Without Names
HarperCollins · Print & ebook · May 24, 2011
A Realistic Fiction pick for readers exploring Boys Without Names.
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- Who it’s for
- A clear-eyed story of hardship finds room for courage in the stories boys share.
- Themes
- Child labor, Storytelling and solidarity, Family separation
- Genres
- Abuse & Healing, Survival Stories, Homelessness & Poverty
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Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved.
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Born Behind BarsPadma Venkatraman61% matchShares Homelessness & Poverty
The Grand Plan to Fix EverythingUma Krishnaswami, Abigail Halpin55% match
Lion of the SkyRitu Hemnani53% match
ThirstVarsha Bajaj52% matchShares Homelessness & Poverty
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Karthik DeliversSheela Chari51% match
Fly Away HomeEve Bunting51% matchShares Homelessness & Poverty
For older readers: The Man From the Other Side, Children of the River, Once
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Start with this bookAbout this book
Trapped. For eleven-year-old Gopal and his family, life in their rural Indian village is over: We stay, we starve, his baba has warned. They flee to the big city of Mumbai in hopes of finding work and a brighter future. Gopal is eager to help support his struggling family, so when a stranger approaches him with the promise of a factory job, he jumps at the offer. ?
Continue reading
But there is no factory, just a stuffy sweatshop where he and five other boys are forced to work for no money and little food. The boys are forbidden to talk or even to call one another by their real names. Locked away in a rundown building, Gopal despairs of ever seeing his family again. But late one night, when Gopal decides to share kahanis, or stories, he realizes that storytelling might be the boys' key to survival. If he can make them feel more like brothers than enemies, their lives will be more bearable in the shop—and they might even find a way to escape.
Stories as Shelter
A clear-eyed story of hardship finds room for courage in the stories boys share.
Come here for
- A young reader’s view of poverty, displacement, and the bonds stories can build
Expect
- Tense circumstances, with connection and the possibility of escape
Where it sits
| Homelessness & Poverty | 65% |
|---|---|
| Survival Stories | 38% |
| Abuse & Healing | 30% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Art & Architecture
- Boys & Men
- Family Stories
- Historical Asia
Show all 8 publisher categories
- Stories Set in Asia
- Friendship
- Homelessness & Poverty
- Sexual Abuse & Support
- Authors
- Kashmira Sheth
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Published
- May 24, 2011
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Child labor · Storytelling and solidarity · Family separation
- Reading lane
- Art & Architecture