Bradbury, Jennifer Outside In, 270 pages. Atheneum (Simon), 2017. $17.
Content: G (some bullying)
Ram ekes out a life on the streets of Chandigarh, usually
avoiding the bullies and finding just enough food to survive. While fleeing one day, he sees a man carting
junk into the forest. When Ram sees the
fantastical sculptures the man. Nek, is
forming from what he sees as junk, he feels the need to protect the site and
the man. Especially from the encroaching
city buildings. Along the way Nek helps
Ram connect with his own heritage by relating an epic Indian myth to Ram as
they work together.
While this book probably won’t get much attention, it is not
for lack of skill on Bradbury’s part.
Any middle school or elementary librarian working to build a collection
of international stories needs to add this title. And share the book and this website about Nek
Chand’s creations with any geography teacher for a great lesson. While I am pretty sure that Bradbury is not
Indian, she seems to have done meticulous research into her subject and culture.
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