I think that teens like to learn about other cultures and ways of life. This novel is definitely one that presents a little-known culture. I think many teenage readers would be interested to know what happens to young, poor Indian girls. The novel is short and a quick read, but also powerful. Teens would easily be moved by reading a novel such as this one.
The book addresses living on one's own, family/personal honor, trustworthiness, gaining independence and growing up at too young of an age. Lakshmi is certainly a character who has to overcome a number of different obstacles that few young, American women face today. Nevertheless, the challenges that Lakshmi faces can easily relate to other teens throughout the world.
While it is hard to swallow the choices that Lakshmi faces and to truly understand how she can make the decisions she does, since the cultures are so different and Americans would never react quite the same way, it is good to experience something new. I think that within the context of Lakshmi's culture and upbringing, her choices and actions are definitely believable.
I think that, due to the nature of the content of this novel, I would promote this book to older and more mature teens. It might be interesting to read in conjunction with books about other cultures and the women in them, like A Thousand Splendid Suns. Readers might be intrigued with this novel if they were presented with a list of the expectations of young women in Indian culture.
4Q, 4P, J/S
No comments:
Post a Comment