Homeless Bird

Homeless Bird is a novel by Gloria Whelan about a girl in modern India who must find her own way after a hard turn of fate. Thirteen-year-old Koly goes into her arranged marriage with hope, but she soon learns that her new husband, Hari, is very ill and that his family arranged the match mainly for her dowry. When she is widowed almost at once, Koly is left without status or security in her in-laws' house, and her harsh mother-in-law eventually abandons her in the holy city of Vrindavan. Alone in an unfamiliar city, Koly must rely on her own courage to build a new life. Inspired by news reports about young widows in India, the story is told in clear, spare prose and is about resilience, independence and hope. It is for readers about 10 to 12 and won the 2000 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.