Homeless Bird

Gloria Whelan's "The Homeless Bird" was a well-received read. First, I hadn't known that the National Book Award was given for young people's literature, and secondly, the book impressed me so much that I read the author's biography to find out more about her. At first I thought that she had lived in India, and was surprised to find out she had never been there, that her well woven, and interwoven tale resulted from a lot of investigation and good, dedicated writing.
Koly's stolen childhood, due to a deceitful marriage at age 12, and her rising to the challenge presented by young widowhood is well carved by the author. I could picture not only Koly, but also her family, in-laws and friends in the streets of Vrindavan, a city of refuge for poverty stricken widows of all ages. Their hopes, sadness, exuberance and need all stood out. The changes that Koly experiences, through hunger and despair to the kindness of others, also stand out. Unlike other books I've read where a child is the main protagonist, I didn't feel that it was a grown author trying to write as a child might think and act, but thought that Koly was an authentic three-dimensional child character. And while the book concludes with a happy ending, it's what I wanted to happen for her. Its conclusion didn't feel manipulated but rather was a good story creatively written.
I hope to read more of Gloria Whelan, and see where this Detroit, Michigan, USA writer might believably take me to next.

Homeless Bird
By: Gloria Whelan

This is a very good book. It is when a girl named Koly is forced to get married to a guy named Hari. Hari later gets sick and dies so now Koly is a widow. Then his sister gets married and leaves. Later, Sassur, the father, dies and that’s when Chandra’s mom, Sass, gets letters from her brothers and hides them from Koly. One day she told Koly that they had no money so they had to sell some of their belongings to go to Sass’s brother’s place. They got on a train and stopped somewhere. Sass told Koly to go get the man to stop the rickshaw and let them get on and he did. They went to a temple and Sass sent Koly off to go get some food. When Koly got back Sass wasn’t there so now Koly lived there. The rickshaw boy, Raji, saw her and said that he knows where she could live. Well, of course, she is a widow so he takes her to a place where all the widows live. She meets a girl named Tanu that works with threading marigolds so Koly worked with her until she got an offer to work with Mr. Das who makes saris for people. Raji then asks for Koly to marry him. Koly says to wait. Raji goes back home and they send letters to each other until she says yes and the book ends with them getting married. This book really is a sad and great book to read and think about often. I liked this book because the author really did put an interesting idea for this book. The author kept me hooked for the ride and never let me go.

Homeless bird is an engaging coming of age story about a thirteen-year-old Indian girl named Koly, a member of "the highest Hindu caste," whose poor parents set her up in an arranged marriage that they are led to believe will be beneficial to both bride and groom. Unfortunately, that turns out not to be the case. Uneducated (her mother believes that school is a waste of time for girls), and cut off from her family, Koly is forced to submit to her cruel mother-in-law's every demand. And just when it seems things can't get any worse, they do, and Koly must try to get by in a new and unfamiliar place. Fortunately, her mother has passed a skill on to her that helps her achieve happiness and success. What I liked most about this (short) realistic fiction novel is the portrayal of Koly as flawed (in acting out against her mil and bowing to peer pressure that lands her in a compromising situation) but willing to work hard in order to achieve her goals. Homeless Bird is a short, superb story, that, due to a couple of scary situations (including the aforementioned one as well as an encounter with a creep) is best suited for 5th grade and up. Also good: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Number the Stars by Lois Lowery.

At age thirteen, Koly must leave everything she knows to marry someone she has never met. When a girl in India gets married their parents pay a dowry to the husband's parents, to make up for the trouble of another mouth to feed. In Koly's case that's the only reason she got married, for the money. Her new husband is very sick, his parents fear that he may die, they have tried many doctors, the trip to the Ganges River will heal him, and they will take the dowry money to pay for the trip. The trip however was of no good, Hari dies, and Koly is left a widow.

This book was good because all the characters have interesting personalities. Her Sass, Hari's mother treats her terribly. Sass is lazy, rude and selfish. They go to a government office to collect Koly's widow's pension, Sass tells her that the envelopes each month are just official business, when really they have money for Koly. Sassur, Chandra is Hari's sister, and acts nothing like her mother, together than her laziness; she decides not to learn to read, instead just to watch. She is very kind to Koly, they have a lot of fun together, they dance in the rain, and they talk and tell stories. Koly is brave and determined, she has always longed to read, and snatches up the chance when it comes to her. She is very determined she works hard even when she is scolded by her Sass for everything.

This book also has many lessons to be learned. Koly perseveres when Chandra leaves to get married, and only soon after Sassur dies. Now Koly and Sass are both widows. Sass takes Koly to the Viridian, holy city of widows. They take a rickshaw to the temple. Sass gives Koly a large sum of money and tells her to go get snacks for them both. She returns to the Temple and Sass is nowhere to be seen. Koly does not give up and returns to the rickshaw boy and asks if he has seen her, she does this every day. One day when Koly returns to the rickshaw boy he takes her to a home for widows who have been deserted in the city. Koly is a hard worker. She gets a job stringing marigold necklaces for weddings and funerals. She works so hard he boss recommends her to another company that makes bracelets. Then she gets a better job, making beautiful saris.

She is very patient. In thanks for the rickshaw boy, Raji's help she teaches him to read and is very patient. Later Koly and Raji get married, he is a farmer and builds them a house, then they marry and move into the new house, he even builds her a special room for sewing, her favorite hobby.

Over all this was a very good book, the only problem was that it was too short to really understand everything. I think a sequel would be good.

Catherine G

Alex Sherk
Homeless Bird Book Review

Can you imagine being married with out even meeting your husband before you marry him? In the book, Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan, the main character Koly, experiences getting married off at a very young age. This book is fiction based on reality. Homeless Bird takes place in India in the 1970's.
Koly is the main character; she gets married to Hari and lives with him and his family. Sass, which is Hari's mother, does not get along with Koly very well. Chandra is Hari's sister. Koly and Chandra's relationship grows to be a friendship. She comes to know that they married her to Hari because they wanted money for taking Hari to Varanasi and bathing him in the Ganges River. After some days of their marriage Koly, Sass, Sassur, and Hari go to the Ganges to bath him. However, Hari dies and Koly has become a widow. After a couple days after his death, Sass and Koly had to go to Delhi. There she meets a rickshaw wallah and he takes her to the widow place. He helps her, and at last, they wanted to get married and they will. If this story were opposite then the book would be boring. Therefore, the ending of the book was sad without Raji and Koly getting married in a traditional way.
In this book, Koly faces an external conflict, which is, after to months of her marriage Hari dies. She suffers doing work what her sass tells her to do. She does not like working under her Sass. She feels very bad about her self. For example, she is living with people she does not like and she does not want to go home because she will disappoint her family.
This shows that Koly does not like what she is doing, and very tired doing all this work. This is because her Sass is making her work day and night and treating her very badly, so she does not like living under her orders. Therefore Koly gets rid of Sass in Delhi and lives a happy life there.
The Author's message about freedom is to not to being physically free, but to be free at mind. For example, for example she trades her book with Sass in return for a book. The authors comment is really a great example. The authors comment is right, I agree with it because when people think they are physically free, but they cannot do anything on their own. They need Will Power. I think the author described it perfectly in my mind. The author painted the perfect picture in my mind. It also makes me free at mind when the author talks about being free at mind. If I were to rate this book, I would give it a five out of five. The characters are very easy to relate too. They are very realistic and the voices make you feel like you are actually there in the book and watching what is going on.

...
March 29, 2003
Per 5-6 LA/SS
Homeless Bird
I suppose part of me had known all along. The thought had been waiting like a scorpion at the edge of my mind. Now it stung me, and I nearly cried out in pain. Homeless Bird, written by Gloria Whelan, is realistic fiction. Realistic fiction means that it is not a true story, but could have happened. Homeless Bird takes place in the 1970's or 80's in northern India. The story takes place in a few locations; three different small villages and two large cities. The story mainly takes place in the second village.
The main character in Homeless Bird is Koly, a thirteen-year-old Indian girl. Two other important characters are Sass and Raji. Sass is Koly's mother-in-law. Sass is the cause of many problems for Koly and because of her Koly meets Raji. Raji is a rickshaw driver in Vrindavan. He befriends Koly after she is abandoned in the city by Sass and he is the only reason why Koly is able to survive in the city. If this story didn't have these two characters it would have been very boring.
One of the main external conflicts in this story is when Koly's husband, Hari, dies of tuberculosis. " His tuberculosis is of a new kind that does not respond to medication. Still, with complete rest he may have weeks, perhaps months to live." Page 33. This shows that they knew Hari was going to die before Koly married him. When Hari dies it seals Koly's fate and destines her to be an unwanted widow for the rest of her life. As a result of Hari's death Koly is put through many horrible ordeals.
One of the main internal conflicts in this story is when Koly must decide whether or not to sell her solid silver earrings or to lose her prized possession, her book of Tagore's poems. "If I find my silver earrings and gave them to you will you give me the book I asked" Page 93. This shows that Koly is willing to give up her solid silver earrings for the book of Tagore's poems. This is because the book means so much to Koly and to Sassur and she knew she could not bear to see it sold. As a result Koly removed her earrings from their hiding spot and trades them for the book of poems.
I believe that the theme of Homeless Bird is hope. I believe this is because Koly is forced to live with a family that she doesn't know and she's is forced to do chores and to clean and cook. Through all of the hardship she keeps up her hope and eventually finds freedom and a new life in the city. This is why I think that the theme of Homeless Bird is hope. In conclusion this book was interesting and was fun to read and I recommend it to all readers.

Homeless Bird
One marriage and one death changes Koly's life forever. Koly is a character in Gloria Whelan's Homeless Bird. It is set in India around the 1970s. The novel is realistic fiction. The life of a widow is a hard one in India, the death in Koly's life is that of her husband. Koly is a character that is supremely important for the book.
The book is written from Koly's perspective. Koly is a thirteen-year old girl living in a village in India. Two other important characters are the rickshaw boy, Raji, and Koly's unpleasant stepmother, or Sass. Koly grows more independent and responsible throughout the plot; she goes from living with her family to going to a job and having an apartment, which she shares with a roommate. Koly is married (into a family also living in a village) and then widowed, leaving her with her mean Sass. Koly's Sass abandons her in the city, where she learns to live on her own. She must work hard to get on her feet, working hard to find a source of money and then trying hard on the job. If the reader of this review wants to discover what happens next, they will have to finish the book.
An external conflict Koly experiences is her struggle to get off the city stree
"I can't afford a place to live. Can't I pick up my pension here?"
". . . No, no. Pensions are mailed. Return when you have an address" (pg. 128).
The above quote shows that Koly is trying to end her homelessness because it shows her trying to get some money for rent. The above quote shows what seems a paradox because until she gets an address she cannot get her widows pension, which she needs to get an address. As a result, Koly will have to find another way to get a home.
One of the myriad internal conflicts Koly faces is her fight with herself over whether to run away from her house.
"I began to make plans. I doubted that I could live on the pension alone, but my silver earrings would help me until I could find a job of some sort. But who would hire me?" (pg. 99).
The above quote shows the two sides of Koly's argument against herself. Her argument for running away is speeding along at the start of the quote, but hits her argument for staying at the end. Because of this conflict, Koly gains experience at decision making for the road ahead.
Gloria Whelan put a message about success in her book. It takes Koly three years to be in a place she would like to call home again, but she does. I think this means the authors' message about success is that it usually comes with time. Rome was not built in a day. I thought Homeless Bird was an okay book because, although it offered fascinating insight into the struggle of the Indian widow, the plot at the seemed first to just fling problem after problem at Koly, and then at the end grant her a overly generous helping of good luck.

Did you know that some people had to marry someone they don't know at the age of 13? In the noble Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan, the main character had to do so. Homeless Bird is realistic fiction, and it has lots of information about India. The story takes place in India, in 1970s. The life won't be fun or interesting to be married early because there is no time to play, but only to work. Homeless Bird is full of Koly's life and experiments.
The story is short, but it is interesting because something surprising happen every chapter. The story starts with Koly, the 13 years old Indian girl, marrying a boy called Hari. Hari dies soon, and Koly is left with her mean mother-in-law, who always scolds her. Koly feels bad, being scolded on everything she does. As a result of sass's scolding, the plot thickens.
During the story, Koly experiences an external conflict: that her sass left her in widow's city. In chapter 9, Koly's sass left her in Vrindavan while Koly was gone to buy food. This shows that Sass was mean to Koly and she should regret and feel sorry for Koly. This is because Koly is her daughter-in-law, so that means she is her family. Family should not harm each other. Also, sass should have not left Koly because she would have bad Karma. After a few days, Koly gets help from a boy and finds a place to live.
In the story, Koly also experiences an internal conflict when she found out that her husband's family was using her widow's pensions Chandra, her sister-in-law's dowry. This made Koly struggle because the pensions were for her and she couldn't receive them. Her choices were to take her pensions back from the family, or to let tem use the pensions for Chandra's dowry . A passage from book that shows Koly was struggling is " I was very angry, but not so angry that I would ruin Chandra's happiness. Koly wanted to take her pensions back, but Chandra's worried voice made Koly feel sorry for her. This is because Chandra's voice made Koly think of her with no husband and made Koly think of how poor the family was. Koly has hard time deciding what to do, but at the end, she fight off the choice of getting back her money and lets Mehta family use the money for Chandra's dowry, but she asks sass not to take her pensions next time.
The subject of theme in this book is adaptability. In page 80, the story is told that Koly began to rise early in the morning, make foods and sweep the courtyard without sass's scolding. The author's comment about adaptability is that people need to adapt whatever the situation is, to success. Author showed theme distinctly by showing Koly getting better and adapting in sass's house. The book teaches Indian life style and important lessons, and it would be beneficial to people's knowledge about India.

Homeless Bird Review
Did you know that in India some girls get married as young as 13 years old?
Well, in the novel Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan,Koly, the main character, has to experience marrage at this young age. This novel takes place in the 1970s. Homeless Bird is classified as Realistic fiction. This novel is a good novel to read because it allows you to escape and learn about other Cultures and Traditions. In this novel the voices are so realistic you feel like your actually there with each character.
In Homeless Bird you learn alot about the life style of some of the people in India and when they get married. Koly, the main character, gets at age 13. When Koly got married she didn't know anything about her husband. It would be hard to live with anyone I didn't know.Let alone to get married to someone I didn't know. Not only does Koly have to edeal with marrage, but she has to deal with family and decision making and doing things she's never had do do before.
In this novel Koly has alot of External conflicts. One external conflict that Koly has, is living with Sass or going home. Koly doesn't want to live with Sass because her and Sass don't get along. Koly doesn't want to go home because she's afraid of what her parents might say and she doesn't want to dissapoint them. When you have a problem you should want to your parents for help and advice instead of trying to hid you problem from them. Not only did Koly have External conflicts, but she also had internal Conflicts too.
In this novel Koly has alot of Internal Conflicts. One Internal conflict Koly had was that she had a pair of earrings that had been in the family for centuries,but she needed money and was thinking of selling them. Koly wanted money so she was going to sell the earrings,but she also anted to learn and inorder to learn she had to read so she was also thinking of trading the earrings for a book. When you have something as valuable as Koly's earrings you should keep it. Aspecialy if it's important everyone not just you. In this novel the author is trying to express feelings and emotions toward anything and everything.
The theme of this novel is hard-ship because nomatter what happends you are always going to have hard times and nothing you do can change that. For Example, Koly had to get married to a gut that she didn't even know. Koly also had to live with people she didn't even really like. I wouldn't like to live how Koly had to live, but I know hard-ship is different for everyone. If I had to rat this novel out of five points I would rat it a five out of five because the characters and their voices are so realistic it makes you feel like your actually there in the book.

Homeless Bird review
How would you feel if your step mom had just abandoned you and you had no place to go? That's what happed to Koly in a book named Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan. It is a realistic fiction book that is very astonishing. Koly is a 13-year- old girl living in India in the 1970's. The endurance and will power someone would need to survive on the streets would have to be great. Homeless Bird is a very captivating book that holds the reader's attention from start to finish.
In the book, the story line or plot is driven by Koly, her step mom, and her boyfriend named Raji. The story starts out when Koly is getting married at 13, but her husband dies about two months after the wedding. Then Koly's mean stepmother takes her to a city where she lives up to her reputation of being mean by doing something. It would be really sad and depressing to marry someone and have them die two months later. The plot of the book is very interesting in that it changes directions at every chapter.
In the book, Koly's husband dies; this poses an external conflict. Koly is really sad and she hates that she is now a widow. This shows that she cared for Hari and even though, she did not know him for that long. This is because she was planning to spend the rest of her life with him. As a result, Koly is sad for a long time, but not for too long because she hardly knew him and had not gotten to know him that good.
In the book Koly tries to decide weather or not to run away from her sass which poses an internal conflict. Koly tries to save her silver earrings so she could use them to buy a train ticket if she decided to run away. This shows that by running away she thinks it would give her a better life without any hatred. This is because sass was treating her so bad and if she tried she could survive on the streets and fell better about herself. She gives up her easy way to freedom when sass says she was going to sell Sassurs poem book and Koly trades her earrings for the book. Therefor she would not have them to buy a train ticket.
One of the themes in this book is independence. Koly was independent because she decided to go and live on her own and start a new life. The authors comment about independence is that people should be independent and not let other people push them around or they will never live how they would like. More people should read this book because it gives the reader a good way to go about life. Homeless Bird is a must read for people who likes a warm hearted story with a basket full of morals.

It all started with an arranged marriage. The book Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan explains Indian culture and arranged marriages within the Hindu caste. A 13 year old girl, Koly, gets married and with in a few days her new husband, Hari, dies. Koly is now a widow with no future. Hari had tuberculosis, and his family knew it but they wanted him to marry Koly for her dowry. Homeless Bird, is a realistic fiction book about India in the 1970`s.
In the book, Homeless Bird, the characters and plot are very real. Koly is left to live with Hari`s family. Koly`s mother in law, Sass, is very mean to her. The conflicts between Koly and Sass, forces Koly to make some important decisions. These decisions change Koly`s life forever.
Koly has some internal conflicts like the fact that after Sass abandoned her in the city she needed to find a place to live. "I suppose part of me had known all along. The thought had been waiting like a Scorpion at the edge of my mind. Now it stung me, and I nearly cried out with the pain. There had been the letters from her brother in Delhi that she never let me see." (Page 121) She was left homeless and didn't have very much money. She couldn't afford a room or a house, and she couldn't find a job. As a result Koly needed to find a place to live and a job.
Koly has some external conflicts, Sass is mean to Koly and makes her work very hard. "Let me comb your hair and braid it for you. It was something that Chandra used to do for her maa. No. You are too clumsy. If you have time on your hands, there are pots to scrub." (Page 93) This shows that Sass doesn't want to do any thing with Koly she just wants her out of her life. This is because Sass never wanted Koly, she just wanted the money from the dowry. As a result Koly wanted to run away.
This book is full of India's traditions and customs. The theme of the book is that although sometimes your life is arranged for you, other times you have a choice and that choice could make your life the way that you want it. This shows that after all the hard work that Koly went through it paid off and she got the life that she wanted. She didn't give up she knew that if she was good and worked hard that something good would have to happen in her life. This book had a depressing beginning, but at the end it was happy. At the beginning Sass was mean to Koly and her husband died, but at the end she had got a room, and had friends. After all that she had gone though she finally had the freedom that she wanted. This is a good book to read to learn about family life in India.

Can you ever imagine getting at age thirteen years old? In the book Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan this happens. Homeless Bird it's a realistic fiction book that takes place in the 1970's in India. In the 1970's Indian girls will get married at age 13 arranged by their parents. Getting married at age 13 is very odd, but not in India. Over all, girls get married at a very young age in India and same goes with a girl named Koly in homeless bird.
Koly, the main character, is married off to a sick boy named Hari who eventually dies, which makes Koly a widow. Koly can't go back to her family because it will bring her family dishonor, so Koly has to stay with Hari's family. Koly's mother in law, known as sass, doesn't have a very poor relationship because sass is very rude and self-centered. Without this relationship, the book homeless bird wouldn't be as enjoyable because there are so many problems it leads to. As this relationship goes on, the plot becomes more intense.
In the book Homeless Bird, Koly and sass do not get along. Sass is always scolding Koly to do housework. This shows Sass is very upset about something. This shows that ever since Hari died, everyone is disappointed and miserable. As a result, no matter how mean sass is to Koly, Koly has to deal with her sass.
Koly needs to choose to stay with her sass or to run away. On page 105, illustrates that Koly wants to run away but she can't. "One day I will run away," Koly said. "No you mustn't do that. Where would you go? And who would take care of you?" Chandra said. This shows that Koly is desperate to run away because she feels like that's the only way to be happy. This is because Koly doesn't want to be around sass, but Koly feels devastated because she has no one that can take care of her if she runs away. As a result, Koly doesn't run away, but sass leaves her in the city of widows all by herself with nothing to survive on.
One word that explains the theme of Homeless Bird is, happiness. The comment Gloria Whelan tried to send out about happiness is that once you work hard, you will attain happiness because when Koly found a job and shelter to live in she was happier than when she was with sass. This comment is very true because your hard work will pay off. Sometimes it takes a really long time to achieve happiness because Koly waited 5 years for her happiness. Homeless bird isn't the best or worst book to read. Kids that want to read about someone's culture outside of their perspective should read Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan.

Can you ever imagine getting at age thirteen years old? In the book Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan this happens. Homeless Bird it's a realistic fiction book that takes place in the 1970's in India. In the 1970's Indian girls will get married at age 13 arranged by their parents. Getting married at age 13 is very odd, but not in India. Over all, girls get married at a very young age in India and same goes with a girl named Koly in homeless bird.
Koly, the main character, is married off to a sick boy named Hari who eventually dies, which makes Koly a widow. Koly can't go back to her family because it will bring her family dishonor, so Koly has to stay with Hari's family. Koly's mother in law, known as sass, doesn't have a very poor relationship because sass is very rude and self-centered. Without this relationship, the book homeless bird wouldn't be as enjoyable because there are so many problems it leads to. As this relationship goes on, the plot becomes more intense.
In the book Homeless Bird, Koly and sass do not get along. Sass is always scolding Koly to do housework. This shows Sass is very upset about something. This shows that ever since Hari died, everyone is disappointed and miserable. As a result, no matter how mean sass is to Koly, Koly has to deal with her sass.
Koly needs to choose to stay with her sass or to run away. On page 105, illustrates that Koly wants to run away but she can't. "One day I will run away," Koly said. "No you mustn't do that. Where would you go? And who would take care of you?" Chandra said. This shows that Koly is desperate to run away because she feels like that's the only way to be happy. This is because Koly doesn't want to be around sass, but Koly feels devastated because she has no one that can take care of her if she runs away. As a result, Koly doesn't run away, but sass leaves her in the city of widows all by herself with nothing to survive on.
One word that explains the theme of Homeless Bird is, happiness. The comment Gloria Whelan tried to send out about happiness is that once you work hard, you will attain happiness because when Koly found a job and shelter to live in she was happier than when she was with sass. This comment is very true because your hard work will pay off. Sometimes it takes a really long time to achieve happiness because Koly waited 5 years for her happiness. Homeless bird isn't the best or worst book to read. Kids that want to read about someone's culture outside of their perspective should read Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan.

Have you ever heard of the book Homeless Bird? The novel Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelam is a realistic fiction book written about an Indian girl's perspective on her life. In India, around the 1970's, a girl, named Koly, tells her story. Her parents have little money and little food. There are probably times when the parents or children don't eat. As a result of this, Koly's parents decide to marry her off.
When Koly gets married, she finds out that her husband, supposedly older than she is, turns out to be younger than her. Her husband, Hari, is also sick and his parents only wanted to marry him to get enough money to pay for the doctor. Also the wedding sari was to be sold and the money spent on the doctor as well. Hari's parents also lied to Koly and her parents about Hari's age and wellness. As a result, Koly refuses to give Sass, her mother-in-law, her silver earrings given to her by her mother. The plot thickens.
In the beginning of the book, Koly refuses to give Sass her silver earrings which were given to her by her mother on her wedding day. "'...Take off your silver earrings and give them to me for safekeeping.' From what I had overheard my maa and baap say, I had guessed that the Mehtas had not been honest with us. How could I trust Mrs. Mehta now? Stubbornly I shook my head. I knew if I defied her now we would be enemies, but I didn't care." This shows that if someone lies to you then they are probably not trustworthy. This shows that Koly was brave in the face of fear. As a result, Koly gains some independence between Sass and herself. The plot continues.
Also in the beginning of the book, Koly, when it is said that a husband had been found, almost runs away. "When I heard that at last a husband had been found for me, I almost ran away. How could I spend the rest of my days with someone I had never seen?" This shows that Koly is nervous about getting married. This is because she has never met her husband and she might not like him. As a result, Koly is afraid of the marriage.
In Homeless Bird, Koly shows a state of will power which helps her through the hard times "No one was more fortunate than I." This shows that Koly never gave up and in the end it paid off. I liked the novel Homeless Bird a lot and would recommend it to kids ages 12 and up. I would rate it an 8 out of 10 because it was boring at points, but why don't you read it and see for yourself!

Kimberly
Homeless Bird review
Can you imagine being married when you are 13? That is exactly what happens to Koly, the main character of Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan. Koly lives in India with her mom, dad, and two brothers before she gets married. Her mom says she has to get married before she becomes to old. Her soon to be husband, witch her father found for her, is Hari. His personal add said he was 18 and well educated. Then after the wedding everything went wrong.
Koly is now living with her sass, sassur, Hari, and chandler Hari was not 18 and he was very sick. Koly couldn�t even see him! One day she overheard her sass, sassur and Hari talking about going to the Ganges river to try and heal Hari, Hari insisted that Koly come because it is her dowry paying for the trip. It�s a long trip to Varinassi and Hari is getting sicker and sicker every day of the trip. There Hari dies, he get cremated and scattered into the Ganges.
An internal conflict for koly is that when Chandra leaves to get married off to befriend sass or runaway. Koly is now a widow and sass doesn�t give her widow pension so Koly asks the guy at the pension office if she moves will the pension come to her (ch.6). This shows that she is thinking of moving because she asked the guy at the pension office a question. This is because Koly wants to have freedom and she can�t because her sass doesn�t think she�s good enough, but she has a shelter at her sass's house. As a result to save up for the ticket and her widow pension can help her until she finds a job.
An external conflict Koly has I s being left by he sass. Koly receives 50 rupees from her sass to go get something to eat and when she comes back she was gone. This shows that Koly is not wanted by her sass. This is because sass doesn�t think Koly is good enough. As a result Koly found another widow and they slept on a doorstep together.

The subject of Homeless Bird is freedom. Koly sacrificed her mom�s earrings for a book that brought her inner freedom (ch.7 pg.107-108). The authors comment about freedom is it is worth sacrifice. The authors comment about freedom is true because people can�t always get everything the w want because in order to have something it means giving up something. In conclusion short turn sacrifices lead to long term gains.

Homeless Bird
Do you know how old people in India get married? This book is Homeless bird by Gloria Whelan is about the main character, Koly (age thirteen) having trouble with her husband's family. This book's is a realistic fiction because it is based on a true story, but the characters in this book aren't real. The story takes place in the 1970s and the place of where it happens is India. The characters has changes in life because of someone's death. As a result of the characters, they ends up in a place where they wanted.
Koly's Sass (mother in-law) and Raji (friend) are two other characters that need keep the flow. Sass is the mother of Koly's husband and she is an angry woman because of how she yells at Koly. Raji is the boy who helps Koly solve her problems and helps her. Sass acts really mean and Raji acts really nice. As a result of sass and Raji, they both are 2nd from the list of the main characters.

Koly's Sass and Sassur (father in-law) struggles through sadness. They go through struggles because Koly's husband died after they got married. Sass used her sadness on yelling at Koly to do more work. Sassur used his sadness to teach in a very sad way. Soon, Sass and Sassur was happier than before.
Koly need to choose to run away with her money from her sliver earrings or stay with her Sass that is mean and makes you do a lot of work. Koly begged Krishna (one of the Hindu gods) to find a way to help her escape. This shows that Koly should get a job and save money to leave with her money and the money from the sliver earring (or traded for a book) or stay with Sass. She didn't to make a decision because Koly didn't have to make a decision to leave Sass. Instead, Sass is leaving Koly, but not Koly leaving Sass. As a result, she lives at a good city and meets a boy (which I won't tell) who asked Koly to marry him.
The message word about Homeless Bird is Independence. Koly leaves her parents and gets married and have nobody that she knows. The author's message about Independence is laving your family. Another message from the author is living independently with no friends and family, but only your husband's/ wife's family (only if you get married). This book was interesting because of how a girl ends up in a happy family that does not involve children.

Can you imagine being married off by your parents at age 13? Homeless Bird is a fiction book written by Gloria Whelan. It takes place in India, around 1970. This is a book that sounds realistic, and has a really good hook. If you like adventure and survival, this would be the perfect book for you.
In this novel, there are characters that helped Koly (the main character) hated her, liked her or wanted her to join them and do bad things. Her sass wanted to abandon Koly because she hated her. Sass made her work hard and took the rights away from Koly. Later on in the book, Raji was a character that helped Koly survive. Sass was really mean if she could be that mean to Koly, but no matter how much she tried to hurt Koly, it turned out in a good way. In the middle of the book, Koly actually got away from Sass, and Sass got away from Koly in a special way.
Koly is was facing an internal conflict; she could either run away, go back to her parents or stay home with Sass and get tortured. Koly finds ou that Hari's parents wanted her to marry Hari for a special reason; to get the dowry so they can get a train ticket and take Hari to Varanasi because they thought the Ganges would heal him from the tuberculosis he had. Koly didn't really sleep at night deciding weather to run away or not. She knew that the silver earrings won't last for a long time, and had to get a job soon. Koly didn't know if she could get a job until her money wore all spent.
Koly also had an external conflict: she needed to find a job so she could survive on her own. She is worried that her rupees are almost gone. She knows that her rupees were going to be gone pretty soon. She is thinking of her widow pension, but she thinks it would't be enough. A sticking job would be good because Koly is good at stitching. The theme subject of this novel is freedom Sass didn't let Koly have fun, or do anything other than work. Koly didn't have the right to make decisions or do what she preferred.The Author's comment about freedom is that no matter hat people do to you physically, they can'tt take away the freedom of your mind. Lots of people like Sass think they can control somebody's mind, buy they are wrong.

Can you imagine being married off by your parents at age 13? Homeless Bird is a fiction book written by Gloria Whelan. It takes place in India, around 1970. This is a book that sounds realistic, and has a really good hook. If you like adventure and survival, this would be the perfect book for you.
In this novel, there are characters that helped Koly (the main character) hated her, liked her or wanted her to join them and do bad things. Her sass wanted to abandon Koly because she hated her. Sass made her work hard and took the rights away from Koly. Later on in the book, Raji was a character that helped Koly survive. Sass was really mean if she could be that mean to Koly, but no matter how much she tried to hurt Koly, it turned out in a good way. In the middle of the book, Koly actually got away from Sass, and Sass got away from Koly in a special way.
Koly is was facing an internal conflict; she could either run away, go back to her parents or stay home with Sass and get tortured. Koly finds ou that Hari's parents wanted her to marry Hari for a special reason; to get the dowry so they can get a train ticket and take Hari to Varanasi because they thought the Ganges would heal him from the tuberculosis he had. Koly didn't really sleep at night deciding weather to run away or not. She knew that the silver earrings won't last for a long time, and had to get a job soon. Koly didn't know if she could get a job until her money wore all spent.
Koly also had an external conflict: she needed to find a job so she could survive on her own. She is worried that her rupees are almost gone. She knows that her rupees were going to be gone pretty soon. She is thinking of her widow pension, but she thinks it would't be enough. A sticking job would be good because Koly is good at stitching. The theme subject of this novel is freedom Sass didn't let Koly have fun, or do anything other than work. Koly didn't have the right to make decisions or do what she preferred.The Author's comment about freedom is that no matter hat people do to you physically, they can'tt take away the freedom of your mind. Lots of people like Sass think they can control somebody's mind, buy they are wrong.

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be married off by your parents, when you were only 13 years old? In the book Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan, Koly the main character has many difficult choices to make. This book is classified as realistic fiction, and it takes place in India, during the 1970's. Homeless Bird seems very realistic, and there aren't many books like it.
The main characters in this book are Koly, her mother in law, whom she calls Sass, and Raji. Koly, is a 13 year old girl who gets married off by her parents, Sass is her mother in law who irritates Koly. And Raji is Koly's friend who she meets in the city. The main plot in this book is Koly, getting married off at a very young age. Being married at that young of an age is very hard for Koly to deal with. And Koly has lots of things to deal with, along the way.
One of the main external conflicts in this book is when Hari, Koly's husband, dies. Koly hadn't even gotten used to living away from home, and when he died, she had to get used to living alone with her new family, with out him, and getting to know everyone. Koly didn't want to stay, so she thought she could run away and go back home. It was strange that she waited that long to think about wanting to go home. If I were in her position, I would have been thinking about it all the time. Koly had a lot of internal conflicts too.
Koly was unhappy inside too. She was being bossed around by Sass, before and after Hari's death. She wanted to leave very bad, but she knew she had to stay, because she knew her family would be ashamed if she came back home. So she decided that she had to try to be happy there, with the Mehtas.
I think that the theme of Homeless Bird is Freedom. The reason is because Koly gave away her earrings, so that she could keep a book of poems, that was Sassur's (her father in law). The author is trying to say, about freedom, that you don't only have freedom in your actions, but also in your mind. Homeless Bird teaches, and shows people about the ways of life of other people, and teaches them to appreciate everyone and everything.

In the novel Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan, Koly, the main character, has to take risks to stay alive. This realistic fiction book shows you a lot about Indian culture. The books setting takes place in India in the 1970s. Homeless Bird is a great book to read when you are about to go to bed. The characters help Koly out when she is in a lot of trouble.
The characters help protect Koly until she is ready to look out for herself. Sass, Koly's mother in-law, is the only person who really frowned upon Koly in the beginning. When Koly gets married off she has to go live with her husband's family, then they leave, and Koly meets a guy named Raji who gives her helpful advice. Koly has shown a great deal of courage. When Koly's family leaves her the book gets exciting.
When Koly's husband (Hari) and father in-law died, she only has Sass because Chandra had gotten married. Sass takes Koly to the train station and then Sass leaves Koly. Koly has to watch out for herself until she meets Raji who told her where a widow's house was and where she could get some food. Koly has very little money and she does not think she will make it. Koly finally gets a job at an embroidery shop.
Koly has to deal with a lot of her family dieing. Koly has to live without her husband or her friends. Koly has to live alone with Sass until she does not want to take care of her anymore. Koly is scared when she has no one to talk to and no shelter to go. Koly finds help when she meets Raji a rickshaw driver.
Koly has to make many decisions in the book. She could run a way but she does not know how far her precious earrings will take her. This shows that the Mehata's must not treat her very well. As a result, Koly has to befriend the whole family.
In the end of the book, Koly has a better life than she did. Koly is making a lot of money at the embroidery shop. The theme of this book is about what has happened to Koly. This is an excellent realistic fiction book to read. It teaches people that some people have to go through this. This book was a very fun an exciting to read.

Can you imagine yourself getting married to someone you don't know at a young age. In the novel "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan Koly, the main character gets married to a boy named Hari. This book is realistic fiction. This book takes place in somewhere in India in the 1970's. I learned some facts be reading this book. Koly gets married to a boy named Hari. Then Koly meets Sass and Sassur.
Koly cleans up in the families' house because whenever her husband or Sass tells her to do something she has to do it. Koly and Sass go to a city. They look around looking at temples then later on Sass runs away from Koly. The Koly meets a boy named Raji. Raji brings Koly to a house owned by a person named Maa Kamala and she offers koly a job. Now that Koly has a job she could buy things that she needs. She doesn't have to worry about running out of money.
Before Koly was going to married she was thinking of running away. "When I heard that at last a husband had been found for me, I almost ran away. {Pg.7 Paragraph 5}. This shows that Koly didn't want to get married at this young age. This is because she wanted to be older. But then her brothers were nice to her so she stayed and didn't run away.
Whole Koly was at her new job she made a friend. Her name is Tanu. Tanu told Koly if Koly could come over to Tanu's house. The shows that she has to tell Maa Kamala and she might get mad. This is because Koly probably still has to do some work at Maa Kamalas house. So every day Koly has to get up in the morning really early and do work until night.
The word that I chose for this book is Freedom. Koly sold her earrings for money to buy the book. The authors message is that you're not physically free but also your mind. The authors right because if you know how to read then life would be much easier. This book is great because at the beginning of the story it wasn't boring and throughout the book.

I just finished a book called Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan. This is a wonderful book filled with hope, love, and fate. Now before I tell you what in the world this book is about, you have to understand that this book takes place in a totally different environment, or a totally different country may I say, and also has many different traditions. One which is shown in this book, is that the parents will make a marriage for their daughter with a man or boy they don't even know. Now here is what it is about. Koly`s (a 13 year old girl who lives in India) parents finally find a husband for her. On her wedding day, she finds herself in a strange house, with people that she doesn't now at all. She is fated to stay with these people for the rest of her life but she can't turn back now. When she is thrust into all this she finds out that her husband is soon to die and she will be a widow. There's another tradition you should know. When a girl is married, she cannot go back to her parents unless something terrible happens and then she can visit them. This is all I am going to tell you because there's not much more I can say without giving away the ending.
This is a great book and it is very interesting and exiting from beginning to end. She is always doing something or something else is going on. It always keeps you on your toes. The end was a surprise, but also wasn't a surprise. To know what I mean, read the book. I like the main character in many ways. She is sometimes brave, and has much courage, and strength. Even though this is a fictional character, there could be someone going through the same hardships right now in India.
Not everyone has the same opinion, especially with something like the theme. You might think the theme is, stand up for you self, and I might think something else. For this book I think the message Gloria Whelan is trying to get across is, not every country has the same customs. This is true and I hope everybody can accept that.

Have you ever had a marriage arranged by your parents before you even knew who you were going to marry? The novel Homless Bird, by Gloria Whelan, is a realistic fiction book. The book takes place in India in 1970. By reading Homeless Bird, the reader will learn a lot about Indian culture. The main character, Koly, has no choice but to marry the boy her parents chose her.
As a result of Koly's marriage, she is introduced to 2 other characters who keep the story going. Sass, Koly's mother-in-law, mistreats Koly, no matter what she does for Sass. Fortunately, Raji comes along and introduces Koly to a new life. Sass, is very stubborn and causes many conflicts in the story. As a result, Koly must solve and figure out all the conflicts that Sass provides.
Koly is in Delhi alone, and must find food, shelter, and a job. She finds Raji, (the boy from the rickshaw) and tells her where she can get her widow's pension. Raji is doing this because Koly has nothing left so he helps her. As a result, Koly has money from her pension and can provide her with food and shelter.
In the novel, Homeless Bird, by Whelan, Koly, the main character decides whether to say with the Mehtas or runaway. Koly thinks of the consequences of running away such as "Where will I live? How long will my earrings last?" This shows that Koly doesn't like staying with the Mehtas. This is because of the way Sass mistreating Koly. As a result Koly kept her earrings to have enough money to provide her with food and shelter.
The theme subject is "Freedom." Koly lies to Sass about loosing her silver earrings because its enough money for her to be free and provide her with food and shelter. The author's message is that freedom is not just physical freedom, but also mental freedom. This is because of Koly's silver earrings that will help her. I would grade this book a 10 out of a 10 because this book has taught you things about Indian culture and catches my attention.

Can you imagine marrying someone you do not know at a young age? In the novel Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan, this topic is explored! The main character, Koly, thirteen years old, was married off to a boy named Hari, not even knowing what he looked like or ever meeting him. This book takes place in India in the 1970s. Homeless Bird can be classified as realistic fiction. Koly's life is effected greatly because of Hari's death.
In this book, many important characters keep this book going. Some characters that do this are Sass, Koly and Raji. Sass (Koly's mother in law) does not like Koly and Koly does not like Sass. Koly and Raji were very good friends. Raji was very influential to Koly in this story.
Koly faces an internal conflict, she can either run away, or stay with Sass and work hard all day long. Koly really wants to run away, but she is worried about how she will live her life alone. If Koly gives her silver earrings to Sass, she can get a book and escape in her own mind. If she sells the earrings, she can go free and live on her own. Koly really wants to escape from Sass.
If Koly decided to run away, she would have to live on her own and try very hard to survive. It is not likely that she would last very long all by herself. This is a big internal conflict for her. This choice would also be a major problem for Sass because she would have no one to work for her nor help her out around the house. It is good that she didn't do this.
The authors comment about freedom is that Koly wanted to be free in her mind by getting the book from Sass. Since she traded her silver earings which were worth a lot of money for these, she could have the book. Koly always liked school, and wanted to be smart throughout her whole life. Koly couldn't afford to go to school from her family. They always needed an extra worker around the house. This book would be reccomended to anyone who likes realistic fiction.

Do you like sad stories? Do you like happy endings? Well the book I read was Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan. And this book is sad and has a happy ending. I would recomend this book to anyone who likes sad stories and happy endings.

The reson why I would recomend this book is becauseit was so interesting. It was so interesting because there was a lot of action to the story. Also because it grabs your attention. If you like sad, graceful, and interesting books this is the book for you.

The book took place in India. It took place in a couple of small towns in India. The book is about a 13 year old girl who has to get an aranged marrage and sence the wife has to live with the husbands family the husbands mom abandons her after the husband and dad dies. Also the book has some words from India like phul-khana and sadhu. Don't worry there is a authors note in the back of the book that tells you what they mean.

I usualy don't like books like that, but I realy liked this one because it just grabbed my attention by the problems in the book and how the charactors in the book overcome them. It's like I couldn't let go of the book because it was so good. I know what you're thinking, it's corney. Well if you're thinking that you are wrong. Read it for yourself if you don't believe me! the book is graceful, sad, interesting, and it has a happy ending, what more do you want?Then the book has an award winning backroud as it has won The National Book Award. So come down to your nearest book store and buy the book or go to your nearest library and check the book out if you don't want to waste your money if you don't like the book.

The book Homeless Bird is a realistic fiction novel by Gloria Whelan. The setting takes place in two cities, the village that the Mehta's live in, and Vrindavan, the city that her sass leaves her in. The main characters in the book are: Koly, the main character, Raji, a friend she meets in Vrindavan, and Sass, her mother-in-law. The time period takes place somewhere in the 1970's.
An external conflict that Koly experiences is that she is left in Vrindavan, a giant city where widows are left. She is stuck there with no food little money, and no place to live. Then another widow shows Koly a doorstep where they will not kick you off, and will give small portions of food. Then she meets a boy (Raji) who takes her to a house that takes widows that have been left there. Then she stays there until she has enough money to rent her own apartment.
An internal conflict that Koly experiences is whether to accept the arranged husband her parents have found or to run away. She doesn't know the man she would marry and doesn't even know his correct age. She knows though that if she runs away and doesn't marry Hari she will disgrace herself and her family. So in the end she decides to marry Hari and then Hari dies a week later because he is very sick.
I think that this book has a strong meaning. It tells you how some peoples lives can be so different then others. For example, in this book Koly gets married off to a man she doesn't even know, then is left a giant city alone. Other people would never dream of something that bad happening to them. But I think that this book is a very effective book that will keep you reading.

Since this book is designed for "ages 10 and up," I was not expecting to be amazed by this book since I am well past 10 years old. Well, Gloria Whelan proved me wrong! Despite its brevity, Homeless Bird is a heartwarming tale that tells 13-year-old Koly's plight in India very beautifully. The world is on the brink of becoming modern, with the Brahman scribes gradually being replaced by the new technology of computers, yet many people still live in poor villages, and many young daughters like Koly are given away in arranged marriages. Koly, at 13, marries a sickly young boy who dies shortly after, and she must deal with her uncaring in-laws, with her mother-in-law (sass in Hindi) being the worse of the two. From her father-in-law (sassur in Hindi), she learns of a poem of a homeless bird by a famous Indian poet, and Koly's life becomes like that of one as she is abandoned in the large city of Vrindavan by her heartless sass. Koly seeks to find a home in life just like the bird.

Whelan has our heroine go through many trials, and like the bird, Koly finally finds her place in life after discovering new places, jobs, and most importantly, people that care about her. Whelan writes a good story while incorporating some Hindi vocabulary. While other authors stumble at this, she makes the story naturally flow even with the foreign words here and there. I recommend this book for those, especially younger audiences, who want a good story with a happy ending!

Would you enjoy to have your parents choose your husband for you? Would you still enjoy it if you didn't get to see or meet your husband until you said your wedding vows? Well, in India you really don't have a choice!
The book Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan is about a girl, who lives in India, named Koly, who is having her marrage arranged very soon. Yet, she isn't excited at all. She seems to think that her soon to be Sass, (mother-in-law) and Sassur (father-in-law) are more interested in getting her dowery (the money given to the groom and his family, by the family of the bride, for taking and keeping the bride) than they are in getting her. Then, a few days after her wedding she finds out a terrible secret. A secret that makes her want to run back home to her family. Instead, afraid of disgracing her family by running back home, she sticks it out and has many adventures, not all good, throughout her life.This is a great historical fiction book.
This book is a great, quick read. It was really a page turner because even though sometimes you thought that you knew what was coming next, there was always little twists and turns that keep it exciting and definatley kept you concentrating on the story and nothing else. To me the plot seemed unbelievable altough it really wasn't, because these sort of things that happen in the book, really do happen in real life in India. I think that anyone who likes history but also enjoys a little bit of action would like this book.

I think Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan, is an interesting book with a captivating plot. Koly is a 13-year-old who is forced into marriage with a boy who has tuberculosis who has a mean mother. When her new husband dies, she is forced to live with her cruel mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law abandons her in the City of Widows when she is only 15, and Koly has to worry about money and even where her next place to sleep will be. A kind woman named Maa Kamala takes her into her Widows House, and helps her make money and get a job. She is very good at embroidery, so she gets a new job at a store owned by Mr. Das who is very kind to her and pays her fairly. I would recommend this book to young adults because I think the author makes the reader feel like they can really relate to Koly's emotions and she also makes the reader feel like they can realize how difficult it was to be a young widow in their culture. In one part, Koly's "Sass", which is what she calls her mother-in-law, gives her 50 rupees, which is only worth about a dollar and a few cents, and tells her to go buy food. Koly has never had that much money, so she sets off to buy some food. She goes back to look for Sass but Sass has left for her brother's house, where Koly is unwanted. So Koly is left with about a dollar to survive, is only 15 years old, and the author really explains what Koly thinks about and what she is concerned about. In another part, Koly is approached by a man who tries to take her to his home and rape her. She escapes, but it makes you realize how frightening it would be on your own. I think that this is a story that captivates you and is descriptive of how Koly actually feels. Some might disagree with me and say the story is boring and slow and I can relate on some level. The plot really only unfolds about two chapters into the book. Also, there are some parts in the book when there is a lot of information that isn't relevant to the story. Even though the book has a few low points, I still think that the plot and the emotions described in the story make up for the slower parts. I think that Homeless Bird is a book that is worth reading because it has a great plot and many characters with realistic traits.

I think Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan, is an interesting book with a captivating plot. Koly is a 13-year-old who is forced into marriage with a boy who has tuberculosis who has a mean mother. When her new husband dies, she is forced to live with her cruel mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law abandons her in the City of Widows when she is only 15, and Koly has to worry about money and even where her next place to sleep will be. A kind woman named Maa Kamala takes her into her Widows House, and helps her make money and get a job. She is very good at embroidery, so she gets a new job at a store owned by Mr. Das who is very kind to her and pays her fairly. I would recommend this book to young adults because I think the author makes the reader feel like they can really relate to Koly's emotions and she also makes the reader feel like they can realize how difficult it was to be a young widow in their culture. In one part, Koly's "Sass", which is what she calls her mother-in-law, gives her 50 rupees, which is only worth about a dollar and a few cents, and tells her to go buy food. Koly has never had that much money, so she sets off to buy some food. She goes back to look for Sass but Sass has left for her brother's house, where Koly is unwanted. So Koly is left with about a dollar to survive, is only 15 years old, and the author really explains what Koly thinks about and what she is concerned about. In another part, Koly is approached by a man who tries to take her to his home and rape her. She escapes, but it makes you realize how frightening it would be on your own. I think that this is a story that captivates you and is descriptive of how Koly actually feels. Some might disagree with me and say the story is boring and slow and I can relate on some level. The plot really only unfolds about two chapters into the book. Also, there are some parts in the book when there is a lot of information that isn't relevant to the story. Even though the book has a few low points, I still think that the plot and the emotions described in the story make up for the slower parts. I think that Homeless Bird is a book that is worth reading because it has a great plot and many characters with realistic traits.

The book Homeless Bird, written by Gloris Whelan, is a realistic fiction piece. This story takes place in India. It begins when a young thirteen year old girl, Koly, is to be married soon. Her parents finally found a husband for her and they set a wedding date. Koly never sees or speaks to her new husband, Hari, before the ceremony. On the day of the wedding, Koly doesn't want to be married yet especially once she sees Hari. He is pale and sickly. After the wedding she says goodbye to her family and goes to live with Hari and his parents. Hari is very sick and his parents use the dowry money to go to the Ganges River. They said the river would cure Hari, but instead it doesn't. Koly has many chores and is always being nagged by Hari's mother, whom she calls sass. Finally, Hari dies and his sister Chandra, Koly's only friend, leaves to be married.

Hari's father then dies and sass says she's leaving to live with her brother. Koly believes that she is coming along until sass abandons her in a city full of widows. Now she faces more troubles.

My impression of this book was very good.Homeless Bird is good for teens and adults as well. It is full of different customs and cultural traits of the Indian people.The book also tells a good story of the girl Koly too.

Good read, however the terminology used is generally either rude or informal. For example, Koly calls her father repeatedly "baap" which is generally used as an insult towards so and sos father. If the terminology was fixed, this would be a great book. Also, I noticed the author was from western origin which may offend some. Its kind of like ya'll are somehow making our culture seem dark, scary, and downright disturbing. On the other hand, the author has opened up some doors on dark issues into the South Asian culture, but I think that it is still contradictory.

How would you like it, if your parents married you off? Well in the book Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan, It's a "Realistic Fiction" The book takes place in India, and around the 1970's, Koly goes to school in the beginning, but then when she gets married off she quits school. I think it's sad she has to quit her education because her parents chose she had to get married.
Koly gets married to a sick boy, who she has never met, but her parents think that he is the right person for her. When she gets married to him she meets a lot of other people, who has an affect on the story. Koly meets Raji and Sass, Sass means Mother-in-law, later she meets her husband, Hari, who later dies from his illness, so Koly goes to an office to become a widow. I think Koly is kinda happy that Hari died because he was very mean to her, but they kinda became friends. So she wasn't very happy about it.
Koly goes thru lots of things, but she has one major external conflict which is, how to survive alone and how to be independent. Koly becomes a widow after her husband dies, so now she has to survive alone! I think it's amazing that she is so young and living with people who practically hates her. If I was so young I wouldn't try to survive alone. She is still trying and she's doing good.
Koly has lots of internal conflicts, one of them is, Koly wants to marry and date this guy she met by marrying Hari, she wants to marry Raji, but she doesn't know if he loves her or not. A quote I thought would be good is: "Raji was never far from my thoughts. Over and over again I had looked back at our evening at the river and wondered why I had not heard from him." This shows that she misses him and likes to be with him. This is because she can run away or stay with Rajiu, and she chooses to stay. As a result she found someone, and she likes him, so they might end up together.
The subject of this book's theme is courage, a specific example that illustrates the theme subject of courage is that Koly knew that in order to survive, she had to be courageous and ask strangers for help, the authors comment about courage is to ask people you don't know for help. This is because if she doesn't ask for help then she won't get it. My opinion about this book is, it teaches me about life in India and living in India. Overall 4 out of 5 stars!

Have you ever heard of the book Homeless Bird? The novel Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelam is a realistic fiction book written about an Indian girl's perspective on her life. In India, around the 1970's, a girl, named Koly, tells her story. Her parents have little money and little food. There are probably times when the parents or children don't eat. As a result of this, Koly's parents decide to marry her off.
When Koly gets married, she finds out that her husband, supposedly older than she is, turns out to be younger than her. Her husband, Hari, is also sick and his parents only wanted to marry him to get enough money to pay for the doctor. Also the wedding sari was to be sold and the money spent on the doctor as well. Hari's parents also lied to Koly and her parents about Hari's age and wellness. As a result, Koly refuses to give Sass, her mother-in-law, her silver earrings given to her by her mother. The plot thickens.
In the beginning of the book, Koly refuses to give Sass her silver earrings which were given to her by her mother on her wedding day. "'...Take off your silver earrings and give them to me for safekeeping.' From what I had overheard my maa and baap say, I had guessed that the Mehtas had not been honest with us. How could I trust Mrs. Mehta now? Stubbornly I shook my head. I knew if I defied her now we would be enemies, but I didn't care." This shows that if someone lies to you then they are probably not trustworthy. This shows that Koly was brave in the face of fear. As a result, Koly gains some independence between Sass and herself. The plot continues.
Also in the beginning of the book, Koly, when it is said that a husband had been found, almost runs away. "When I heard that at last a husband had been found for me, I almost ran away. How could I spend the rest of my days with someone I had never seen?" This shows that Koly is nervous about getting married. This is because she has never met her husband and she might not like him. As a result, Koly is afraid of the marriage.
In Homeless Bird, Koly shows a state of will power which helps her through the hard times "No one was more fortunate than I." This shows that Koly never gave up and in the end it paid off. I liked the novel Homeless Bird a lot and would recommend it to kids ages 12 and up. I would rate it an 8 out of 10 because it was boring at points, but why don't you read it and see for yourself!

Homeless Bird
The novel Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan is a really exciting book. The genre is realistic fiction. The setting was in 1970s in India. The characters are Koly, Chandra, sass, Hari, sassur, and the main character is Koly. Koly is smart girl. Koly had many problems in her life.
Koly is a normal 13-year-old girl who lives in India. Her parents wanted her to marry. So she married a boy named Hari and he had a really bad diseases. Hari is immature because he blames at his parents.
Koly faces an external conflict by Hari's diseases. Koly thinks that if Hari dies she will be lonely because sass ignores her. "What ever sassur had said I knew that sass would not think as me as a daughter." This shows that sass is really mean and doesn't
respect koly. This is because Koly will feel lonely when Hari dies. As a result koly became friends with Chandra, but Sass was still mean to her. But she got used it.
Koly faced an internal conflict by thinking about running away from sass or staying with sass. Koly thinks that staying with sass is horrible because Koly thinks that sass is mean. So she is thinking about running away from her, but she thinks that running away is dangerous. "I began to make plans. I doubted that I could live on the pension alone, but my silver earring would help until I could find a job of some sort. But who would hire me? How long would the money last from my earring?" This shows that Koly feels that sass is really mean and sass doesn't respects her. This because, Koly is trying to run away from her. As a result Koly didn't decide to run away from her because she thought running away was dangerous. Also Koly thinks that if she stays with sass, sass will feed her.
The theme of the story was to respect others. Respecting others was the theme of the book because Koly respected many people that she had met, so she made many new friends. Koly is nice and really respects others. Koly became one of the nicest people in the book.
BY Yuuki Kasahara

Thirteen year old Koly is already getting married.Her family does not have much money.So when it is time to leave her family to go with her new family she sees that her husband is very ill.Koly wants to go to school but in India girls are not allowed to.She wants to learn how to read,so she gets her father to help her read Tagores poems.Her favorite poem is about a bird that is always wondering and does not have a true home.In a way the poem relates to herself.Her husband Harry is still very ill,so her mother in law takes Harry, herself and Koly to the Ganges River.But Her sass leaves her in the city were she meets A rickshaw driver named Raji.When her Sass leaves her in the city Raji takes her to a place where she gets fed and where she can work.Later on in the story Raji's and Koly relationship changes.

This book is one of my favorite books.Gloria Whelan is an excellent author she makes readers want to keep reading.This story really shows the differences and relations to kids in India and America.Gloria Whelan is one of the greatest authors.

Title: Homeless Birds by Gloria Whelan, ISBN 006284528, HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 212 pages
Koly- a strong willed young girl who is the main character of the story
Hari- the young man to whom Koly was married
Sass- Koly's mother-in-law
Sassur- Koly's father-in-law
Characters:
Tanu- Koly's best friend
Raji- Koly's companion

Koly, a thirteen year old girl, lives at home with her parents and two brothers in India. Although Koly's family enjoys living together, the rice bowels are not always full. Koly's parents decide that marrying Koly off would be the best thing for the family, and suitable husband is found for Koly within a matter of weeks. For Koly's dowry, her parents sell two brass vases and the family cow. The dowry also includes a pair of silver earrings and a quilt that Koly embroidered.
When the time of her marriage came to date, Koly was excited yet scared. Koly first saw her husband, Hari, moments before the ceremony started. He was sitting directly across from her. Although he was said to be sixteen, he looked to be Koly's age, if not younger. It was too late to turn back, but the bridegroom's family had lied to Koly and her family.
Koly moves in with her husband and his family soon after the marriage. Hari is very ill and Koly soon finds this out. When the doctor says that Hari has no hope of living, the family decides to take a trip to the holy city of Varanassi. Hari will be bathed in the healing waters of the Ganges River. Koly and his family hope the waters will cure him.
Despite the family's hopes, Hari dies while in Varanassi. Koly's family still takes her in, but she is now an unlucky widow who is treated like a servant. Her only friend and joy is her sister-in-law, Chandra. They share their secrets and become very close. When Chandra is later married off, Koly is left to live with her parents-in-law. Sass is always finding new chores and work for Koly to do. Even though living with Sass seems unbearable, Koly lives for her reading lessons with Sassur. Sassur loves teaching Koly, but his students at the school where he teaches become unruly and unwilling to learn.
One day, Sassur unexpectedly dies. After his death, Sass's endless stream of chores becomes harder and there seems to be more of them. Koly no longer has anybody to confide in. She quickly becomes bitter and isolated in her own mind.
A few months later, Sass receives a letter from her brother who lives in Delhi. He has proposed that Sass come live with him. Sass made it appear that both she and Koly had an invitation. Sass would not allow Koly to read the letter, and she instead took it to a scribe in the village to read it to her. Sass also refuses to let Koly come along while she was buying the railway tickets.
Sass and Koly stopped in the holy city of Vrindan while on the way to Delhi. Sass goes to a temple and gives Koly money to buy both of them food. When Koly returns to the temple with the food, Sass was no longer there. Sass had abandoned Koly in Vrindan.
Koly returns to the train station day after day to come look for Sass. A young man named Raji, who works as a rickshaw boy, sees her at the train station every day. Raji knew that Koly had been abandoned. Many people abandoned widows in the city of Vrindan. Raji soon takes Koly to Maa Kamala's house for widows.
At Maa Kamala's, Koly meets a girl her age named Tanu. Tanu works stringing marigolds, and Koly is sent to join her when it comes time for her to get a job. Koly enjoys her work, but wishes she could do more. She does not get paid much for stringing marigolds. Koly wishes she could have a better paying job.
After work, Raji usually comes around to see if there is any leftover food. He hears Koly reading poems to the widows. Raji hadn't ever attended school. Both of Raji's parents had died when he was younger and left him a plot of land along with a small house. He was working to get money to repair the house and buy crops. He soon started receiving reading lessons from Koly.
Ms. Devi is the woman who owns the home for widows. She comes to visit the tenants while Koly is living there. While on a tour through the rooms with Koly and Tanu, she sees a quilt on Koly's wall that Koly had embroidered. Ms. Devi takes Koly to Mr. Das who gives her a job embroidering quilts.
Koly is very pleased with her new job embroidering quilts, but Raji stops coming around the widow's house. She just assumed that he went back to his home in the country, but still wishes that she could speak to him. Koly had grown rather attached to Raji. Koly had really loved Raji as one of her closest friends.
Not long after Koly starts missing Raji, he comes back. He returned to ask Koly's hand in marriage. Koly is taken aback, and just replies that it is unlucky to marry a widow. Raji did not seem to care. Mr. Das gives Koly special permission to take saris home to embroider. The first sari that Koly embroidered was of a bird fleing back to it's home.

Touchy areas: none
Evaluation: This book is a wonderful example of someone overcoming great odds. Although Koly is married off at the tender age of thirteen, she will not let anyone try to drag her down. Gloria Whelan is an exquisite writer. She can create an image and explain a circumstance so well in a book that the reader feels as if they are part of the experience. I would recommend this book to any young reader in the 6th grade or above. Homeless Birds earns my rating of 8.5 out of 10.
Related titles: Books- Angel on the Square by Gloria Whelan, Indian School by Gloria Whelan, Catherine, Called Birdie by Karen Cushman
Paintings: Village Belle by Ravi Varma
Poetry: See all poetry by Gloria Whelan
Website: [...]

At age thirteen, Koly finds that her parents has already arranged a marriage for her, their only daughter, and Koly knows like many other girls in India, she will have to leave her beloved home forever. Using her great talent for needlework, Koly stitches a quilt of her dearest memories of home to take with her as her drowry. When the wedding day finally comes, Koly finds that things aren't what they were said to be. The boy she is to marry, Hari, is sickly, and Koly soon finds out the family only wanted her for her drowry, so they can find help for their son. Unfortunately Hari still dies and Koly finds herself caught up in tradition that will most certainly produce a horrifying fate. When her greatest fears are realized, and her Sass abandones her in the city of Vrindavan, known as the dwelling place for widows, Koly soon finds herself cast out into a cruel world that doesn't pity her kind---until her fate is changed when she meets a boy named Raji who brings her to a shelter for widows. For the first time Koly feels safe and realizes hope is one the horizon for her.
This was a wonderful book about modern India, written beautifully by Gloria Whelan. It gives great insight and unfortunately many of the things stated are true in India still today, though I have doubt about the widows in the temple part. This book, though, has definitely become my favorite of all Gloria Whelan books.

Have you ever thought of being married only at 13 years old? Well in the book homeless bird by Gloria Whealen, the main character koly gets married at 13 years old. The genre of this book is realistic fiction. It takes place in India in the 1970's. Getting married at a young age is strange to people in the U.S. but it's very normal to people in India. As a result girls in India get married at a young age, like koly in homeless bird.
Koly goes through many changes in life because she is a widow. Sass (mother and law) scolded her all the time. Koly tries to get along with sass but it just doesn't work. Koly is frustrated with sass but she is patient about it. As a result Koly is patient and puts up with sass.
In the book homeless bird, Koly and her sass do not get along. Sass always finds a reason to yell at Koly even if it wasn't her fault. This shows that sass is upset about something and she's taking it out on Koly. This is because ever science her son, Hari, died the family has been falling apart. As a result koly has to just put up with sass.
In the novel homeless bird, the main character koly has to make the disition to run away or stay and put up with sass. For example koly goes to the pension office and she asked, "If I moved, would you send the pension to that new address?" this shows that koly wants to run away, but shes careful because she knows she needs money if she wants to survive. This is because koly knows if she's not careful she could run out of money and become homeless. As a result koly has to stay and accept ho sass is treating her.
Homeless birds author Gloria Whalen wrote this book to send out a message. "If I answered back, I was impudent. If I kept silent, I was sullen." This quote shows that the authors comment is about patients. The author comment about patients is, if you are patient, sooner or later you will be rewarded. People who want to learn about different cultures should read this book. On a scale of 1-10 this book is a 4 because it's easy to read and you learn about the Indian culture.

Homeless Bird
The novel Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan is a really exciting book. The genre is realistic fiction. The setting was in 1970s in India. The characters are Koly, Chandra, sass, Hari, sassur, and the main character is Koly. Koly is smart girl. Koly had many problems in her life.
Koly is a normal 13-year-old girl who lives in India. Her parents wanted her to marry. So she married a boy named Hari and he had a really bad diseases. Hari is immature because he blames at his parents.
Koly faces an external conflict by Hari's diseases. Koly thinks that if Hari dies she will be lonely because sass ignores her. "What ever sassur had said I knew that sass would not think as me as a daughter." This shows that sass is really mean and doesn't
respect koly. This is because Koly will feel lonely when Hari dies. As a result koly became friends with Chandra, but Sass was still mean to her. But she got used it.
Koly faced an internal conflict by thinking about running away from sass or staying with sass. Koly thinks that staying with sass is horrible because Koly thinks that sass is mean. So she is thinking about running away from her, but she thinks that running away is dangerous. "I began to make plans. I doubted that I could live on the pension alone, but my silver earring would help until I could find a job of some sort. But who would hire me? How long would the money last from my earring?" This shows that Koly feels that sass is really mean and sass doesn't respects her. This because, Koly is trying to run away from her. As a result Koly didn't decide to run away from her because she thought running away was dangerous. Also Koly thinks that if she stays with sass, sass will feed her.
The theme of the story was to respect others. Respecting others was the theme of the book because Koly respected many people that she had met, so she made many new friends. Koly is nice and really respects others. Koly became one of the nicest people in the book.
BY Yuuki Kasahara

This book was amazing! It was a real page turner. Homeless Bird is about a girl named Koly. Koly is a 13 year old girl who lives in India with her family. In this book it was an Indian custom that when a child turns 13 he/she was to be married.So Koly's parents had to find her a husband.When they finally found her a husband lots of questions flew around her head. Will I like him? Will he like me? The only thing Koly knew about him was that his name was Hari. At the wedding she found out that Hari was very ill. Another tradition of the Indian people was that the parents of the bride were to pay the parents of the groom a dowry when they got married. The dowry is like a fee for her up bringing,because the bride was to go live at the groom's home with his family.What Koly later found out was that the only reason Hari's parent accepted the dowry was so they can pay the doctor's bill. Koly got very upset. I recommend this book to anyone who likes romantic adventure. It will keep you busy.

Thirteen-year-old Koly has lived in India with her parents and her two brothers her whole life. When her parents tell her that she is going to get married, she doesn't know what to think. She is exited but she knows she will miss the place she has always called home. When the time comes for her to finally get married, she and her parents discover that the parents of the boy she is to marry lied about his age and he is much to young and was so sick that koly is not even permitted to see him.

Later that night, after koly had said goodbye to her parents for the last time ever, she is slightly cheered up when she meets Hari's sister and discovered that she is close to koly's age. When koly finally starts to learn to accept what she has, she begins to lose it. This is an excellent and meaningful story of the life of a thirteen-year-old girl in India, who learns to accept life even with all her troubles.

In this book Homeless Bird, The setting is in India. In India you get married at the age of 13 to a man your parents have picked for you. Girls have to live with your husband and his parents in their home. Koly discovers that the husband her parents have picked for her is a sickly boy with wicked parents. When Koly moves to live with her husband (Hari) she finds out that Hari's parents were very mean. After a couple of days she wants to go back home but she can't. Once you are living with your husband and his family you can't go back to your home because it is an embarrassment to your family.
It was unbelievable when Koly got married at the age of thirteen. Koly was getting married to a man her parents picked for her that she has never met. "What if I don't like him" (Whelan 15).
To find out what happens next in the story read the book Homeless Bird.

Homeless Bird was one of my favorite books.It was sad, funny, surprising, and you never know what was going to happen next. If I could read it again,I would! It has a sad beginning, with a happy ending. Homeless bird kept me on the edge of my seat, always wanting to read more, and more.
It starts with a girl named Koly who is expected to marry a man named Hari, that she has never seen before. Now back then the arranged marriages were popular. She meets his family, puts on her wedding Sari, which is like a wedding dress, and then the wedding takes place. Everything runs smoothly. As she cries herself to sleep, she hears the voice of Hari, Sass(mom), and sassur(dad), all fighting, and loud noises.
Now Chandra's awake, Hari's little sister, and tells koly that when Hari gets mad, he throws things at the wall. But what's wrong with Hari? To figure out what happens next, and how the book ends, pick up Homeless Bird, and enjoy!

Be careful on judging this book by its cover because the cover doesn't describe the true nature of this book. 17-year-old Koly is set up for a marriage upon a boy with the flu and with wicked parents. He husband is Hari. Her Sass which is Hari's mother always scolds her for whatever she does. When Hari dies and his sister Chandra gets married, her Sass and her Sassur (Hari's father) looses hope for a better life.
One day, Koly's Sassur dies after so much stress from teaching his students at a nearby school. Later on, Sass gets a letter from her younger brother out in Delhi that invited them to take care of his children.
Then a mysterious wind-up starts after when Sass left Koly in an un-familiar city where widows would roam around. Koly later on meets boy named raji which later on made a relationship.
This book is an exceptional book. Defintly WORTH BUYING. All of my peers loved it and so will you. You can really get your eyes glued into this book! I defintly give this book five stars.

Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan, is about a thirteen-year-old girl, Koly, growing up in India. In the custom of her culture, a marriage is arranged for her. Her husband ends up being a sickly young boy, no older than herself, whose parents married off their son so that the wedding dowry would pay for a trip to the holy Ganges River. This dowry did not save him, and the now-widowed Koly was forced to live with this strange family.
Homeless Bird tells of how Koly took control of her life, even though she was very young. She had lost all that was familiar to her, yet she managed to pull through difficult times alone. Koly's independence and strength is an inspiration to anyone, and I reccomend it to anyone looking to see just how lucky we are.

Homeless Bird, was an excellent book! It was very interesting. For example, the setting was interesting because I learned about a different culture. The setting of the book is in India, and the girls there get married at a young age. In Koly's life(the main character) she goes through lots of troubles, and happiness at the same time. Another reason you should read this book is,that you never know what's going to happen next. There are so many surprising things in the story. That's why you stay attached.
You can relate this story to your life in so many ways. The book leaves you with a good attiude about not giving up, or miracales happen. Read this book and find out for yourself, how amazing this book can be.

Homeless Bird
By: Gloria Whelan
Reviewed By: K. Huynh
Period: 1
Homeless Bird is about a thirteen-year-old girl name Koly who lives with her mother and two brothers. One day, she had to get marry into another family. Her husband's name was Hari, but she didn't get to see him until the wedding day finally arrived. In India, women who are married cannot live with their own family, but will live in her husband's home. But, Koly finds out that she did get married for a reason, to save her husband's life from a terrible cold. The family used the money to take Hari to the Ganges in Varanasi, a place where it was thought that it had healing powers. It was the only hope left to save Hari's life. Can Koly and Hari make it through?
What I like about the book is how Koly can manage to live with anyone. When Koly was in the village living with her sass, sassur, and sister-in-law, she had to cope with her sass, or mother-in-law to be able to live in her household. She was forced to cook, do laundry, and even get up early to do cleaning. When Koly wasn't paying attention on doing her work, Sass would usually say, "You don't know the meaning of work. You idle about with your daydreams and your foolish books and your stitching. I will see to it that from now on you do indeed earn your keep." The only person that can cheer Koly up was her sister-in-law, Chandra. Koly reads her the Poem of Tagores, one of Koly's favorites. They both entertain each other and would never forget each other, even in the hardest times.
Another part I like about the book is the setting. I learned a lot from the book. I learned more about Indian culture and the customs and traditions that they have there. I discovered that every culture in the world has many differences, which makes the world a bright place. The main character, Koly went through many challenges that were filled with adventure. The book wouldn't be exciting if it only take place in a barn. In the story, Koly gets lost in a holy city and found many challenges ahead of her. Without the help of a richshaw named Raji, Koly wouldn't have been able to live on her own with only 50 rupees. He said, "Don't blubber. I'll show you a place to go. You have to wait until I have finished work. Sit over there, and I'll come back for you."
My favorite part of the book was when Koly was lost in the city of Vrindavan and had to find some place to stay temporary. She first shared a place with an elderly woman who goes to the temple every morning to chant for four hours. Secondly, Koly visits a temple called Govindiji, to see if they offer free food for her. Lastly, Koly meets her rickshaw, Raji, who would take her to a place where she can temporary stay until she would have enough money one day to support her own self. While waiting, Koly meets a strange man who seemed to want her. Luckily, Koly was able to free herself from the man and soon, she was able to go live in a new place where she finally gets a job. I really like this book and would like to recommend this book for readers because it's a graceful and pleasing book to read.

The book that i read was called Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan. It is a realistic fiction book. It is a chapter book that contains 216 pages and only 11 chapters.

This book is about a 13 year old girl living in India named Koly. She is destined to be wed to a sickly young man. After the wedding he dies and she has to live with his parents who are mean and his sister who was kind to her.

She finds herself in a surprising place and finds true happiness. This story was very well written and beautifully detailed. In my opinion, this book would be most enjoyed by girls in their teens and preteens.

The novel homeless bird by Gloria Wellen is a real fiction about a 13 year old girl in India , in the 1970's. Imagine what your life would be like if you were forced to be married to some one your age when you're this age. In this novel the character Koly is faced with this situation.
This 13 year old girl is forced to get married to someone her age. The reason she gets married to this kid is because in India it is tradition to give the family that your daughter marries a dowry. The family of the kid that Koly married wanted one so they could pay for him to get to the Ganges to be healed because he is very sick .and won't stop coughing.
The kid that is sick, Hari, ends up dying from his deadly sickness, and Koly is left with her grumpy step-mom and Hari's father.
Now that no one would want to marry Koly, since she is a widow, it seems that it couldn't get any worse than it is now. But soon she gets a job and lives at a widdow house, so her life gets a little better from there.
In the end Koly gets accepted at a new and better job. Not only that, but she gets paid the amount of money that she needs to live, and she meets a man that she marries and from then on she lives a happy life in India.

Homeless Bird
-------------
by: Gloria Whelan
Reviewed by: S. Akkar
Period 1
In this book, the main character, Koly, is a fourteen-year-old girl who's parents had arranged a marriage for her. Koly had to live in the husband's house for the rest of her life, which is a tradition for most Indians, unless there is a family emergency. Her husband and father-in-law had died due to a sickly disease, and she and her mother-in-law lived alone as widows. The mother-in-law hated Koly. One day, they went to a city for widows, and Koly was left alone. Fortunately, she was befriended by a rickshaw driver and a group of widows who worked in a sari palace. Eventually, she got married to the rickshaw driver and they lived a happy life.
Overall, I liked this book all the way through. The book was emotional, and it was very thrilling. The part where it said that Koly had to get married surprised me. I wondered why she had to get married at such a young age. It was a tradition, I found out. After she got married, it showed the life of Koly in that house through thick and thin.
Another part I liked was the part where she was abandoned in the city and made good friends. I felt happy for her because not only did the friends give her shelter. They also considered her a normal person, not a widow. Eventually in the end, she married one of her friends, the rickshaw driver, and settled down with him in a small house. They lived a happy life afterwards.
I think people of all ages should read this. A thrilling masterpiece written by Gloria Whelan. A novel which, if possible, deserves more than five stars.

Homeless bird was a great book. The engaging the reader was great. It hade m hooked past the first 2 pages. For a pretty long book i enjoyed it. In the beginning the young girl hade to get marriedat age 13. she didn't want to leave her famliy. Her sass was very mean to her. She left her in a city for widows that hade no homes.It was a lonly place of pourness and tears. the conflict was she hade to live her sass that hated her. The setting was in India. her husband died shortly after they were married. Then she fell in love with a man in the cityfor widows.