Chapter book of the week: Boys Without Names

I love all things Indian....movies, music, and food. Especially food. We typically go to our favotite Indian restaurant every other weekend. So when I saw that a new chapter book about the horrors of child labor in India, I had to read it. When I read the review, I thought it was a non-fiction adult book, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that it is actually a juvenile chapter book. Kashmira Sheth's Boys Without Names will have students sitting on the edge of their seats, and would be a great read-aloud when discussing India or child labor.


Gopal's family is forced to leave their village and is lured to the big city of Mumbai, where jobs are supposedly plentiful. While wandering in the slums, Gopal is offered a job at a factory, which turns out to be a sweatshop. Gopal is locked in a shanty with five other boys and is unable to tell his family where he went. The boys must try to band together to escape Scar, the boss who has them gluing beads on picture frames for twelve hours a day. Will they escape and find their families, or will they be sent to the fireworks factory and never see their families again? This book will keep students guessing right until the very end.