Boys without Names (Balzer & Bray, 2010) by Kashmira Sheth is a very powerful book which demonstrates the power of story in the book itself.
11-year-old Gopal and his family have to move away from their village to Mombai in order to survive. But things don’t go well there either. His father lost, Gopal decides he must earn money for the family and trusts someone he shouldn’t. Gopal ends up as a slave in a sweatshop with other boys, who can’t even share their names. It’s Gopal who makes a difference to all their lives. First by giving them names, next by telling stories.
Don’t miss it! I know I’ll be rereading it.
Thanks to Ruta Rimas for introducing me to this book.
Read about the author here: http://kashmirasheth.typepad.com/my_weblog/