Joi Bangla: The Children of Bangladesh

In the years just after Bangladesh became an independent nation in 1971, photographer Jason Lauré and writer Ettagale Lauré set out to meet the country's children and hear about their lives. This nonfiction book pairs Jason Lauré's photographs with portraits of young people from a range of religious and ethnic backgrounds. Among them are an eleven-year-old girl who supports a family of nine by selling flowers, the child of a scholar who lost his life near the end of the conflict, and a young member of the Bihari minority who now feels like an outsider at home. Their languages, foods and faiths differ, yet many share the need to work and hopes shaped by family and tradition. It was a 1975 National Book Award finalist.