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Summary: Shawn-lyn's extra credit review
Review: Gloria Whelan did a wonderful job writing this book! A 13 year old girl named Koly is rearanged to marry someone she doesnt even know! Her sass ( mother ) thinks she should go along with the marriage because the family has money. Koly's husband was sick and he dies so her mother by merriage sends her to a vilige and leaves her there. Koly has to fend for herself so she works at a embordery shop. Then she meets a friend who at the end of the book asks her to marry him! This book is the best book I have read and would like to share what it has to offer to a hungery reader. Believe me when you pick up this book you will not be able to put it down!!
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Summary: Homeless Bird Boiok Review
Review: Alex Sherk
Homeless Bird Book Review
Can you imagine being married with out even meeting your husband before you marry him? In the book, Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan, the main character Koly, experiences getting married off at a very young age. This book is fiction based on reality. Homeless Bird takes place in India in the 1970's.
Koly is the main character; she gets married to Hari and lives with him and his family. Sass, which is Hari's mother, does not get along with Koly very well. Chandra is Hari's sister. Koly and Chandra's relationship grows to be a friendship. She comes to know that they married her to Hari because they wanted money for taking Hari to Varanasi and bathing him in the Ganges River. After some days of their marriage Koly, Sass, Sassur, and Hari go to the Ganges to bath him. However, Hari dies and Koly has become a widow. After a couple days after his death, Sass and Koly had to go to Delhi. There she meets a rickshaw wallah and he takes her to the widow place. He helps her, and at last, they wanted to get married and they will. If this story were opposite then the book would be boring. Therefore, the ending of the book was sad without Raji and Koly getting married in a traditional way.
In this book, Koly faces an external conflict, which is, after to months of her marriage Hari dies. She suffers doing work what her sass tells her to do. She does not like working under her Sass. She feels very bad about her self. For example, she is living with people she does not like and she does not want to go home because she will disappoint her family.
This shows that Koly does not like what she is doing, and very tired doing all this work. This is because her Sass is making her work day and night and treating her very badly, so she does not like living under her orders. Therefore Koly gets rid of Sass in Delhi and lives a happy life there.
The Author's message about freedom is to not to being physically free, but to be free at mind. For example, for example she trades her book with Sass in return for a book. The authors comment is really a great example. The authors comment is right, I agree with it because when people think they are physically free, but they cannot do anything on their own. They need Will Power. I think the author described it perfectly in my mind. The author painted the perfect picture in my mind. It also makes me free at mind when the author talks about being free at mind. If I were to rate this book, I would give it a five out of five. The characters are very easy to relate too. They are very realistic and the voices make you feel like you are actually there in the book and watching what is going on.
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Summary: Homeless Bird
Review: Can you ever imagine getting at age thirteen years old? In the book Homeless Bird, by Gloria Whelan this happens. Homeless Bird it's a realistic fiction book that takes place in the 1970's in India. In the 1970's Indian girls will get married at age 13 arranged by their parents. Getting married at age 13 is very odd, but not in India. Over all, girls get married at a very young age in India and same goes with a girl named Koly in homeless bird.
Koly, the main character, is married off to a sick boy named Hari who eventually dies, which makes Koly a widow. Koly can't go back to her family because it will bring her family dishonor, so Koly has to stay with Hari's family. Koly's mother in law, known as sass, doesn't have a very poor relationship because sass is very rude and self-centered. Without this relationship, the book homeless bird wouldn't be as enjoyable because there are so many problems it leads to. As this relationship goes on, the plot becomes more intense.
In the book Homeless Bird, Koly and sass do not get along. Sass is always scolding Koly to do housework. This shows Sass is very upset about something. This shows that ever since Hari died, everyone is disappointed and miserable. As a result, no matter how mean sass is to Koly, Koly has to deal with her sass.
Koly needs to choose to stay with her sass or to run away. On page 105, illustrates that Koly wants to run away but she can't. "One day I will run away," Koly said. "No you mustn't do that. Where would you go? And who would take care of you?" Chandra said. This shows that Koly is desperate to run away because she feels like that's the only way to be happy. This is because Koly doesn't want to be around sass, but Koly feels devastated because she has no one that can take care of her if she runs away. As a result, Koly doesn't run away, but sass leaves her in the city of widows all by herself with nothing to survive on.
One word that explains the theme of Homeless Bird is, happiness. The comment Gloria Whelan tried to send out about happiness is that once you work hard, you will attain happiness because when Koly found a job and shelter to live in she was happier than when she was with sass. This comment is very true because your hard work will pay off. Sometimes it takes a really long time to achieve happiness because Koly waited 5 years for her happiness. Homeless bird isn't the best or worst book to read. Kids that want to read about someone's culture outside of their perspective should read Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan.
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Summary: Homeless bird
Review: Can you imagine marrying someone you do not know at a young age? In the novel Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan, this topic is explored! The main character, Koly, thirteen years old, was married off to a boy named Hari, not even knowing what he looked like or ever meeting him. This book takes place in India in the 1970s. Homeless Bird can be classified as realistic fiction. Koly's life is effected greatly because of Hari's death.
In this book, many important characters keep this book going. Some characters that do this are Sass, Koly and Raji. Sass (Koly's mother in law) does not like Koly and Koly does not like Sass. Koly and Raji were very good friends. Raji was very influential to Koly in this story. Koly faces an internal conflict, she can either run away, or stay with Sass and work hard all day long. Koly really wants to run away, but she is worried about how she will live her life alone. If Koly gives her silver earrings to Sass, she can get a book and escape in her own mind. If she sells the earrings, she can go free and live on her own. Koly really wants to escape from Sass. If Koly decided to run away, she would have to live on her own and try very hard to survive. It is not likely that she would last very long all by herself. This is a big internal conflict for her. This choice would also be a major problem for Sass because she would have no one to work for her nor help her out around the house. It is good that she didn't do this. The authors comment about freedom is that Koly wanted to be free in her mind by getting the book from Sass. Since she traded her silver earings which were worth a lot of money for these, she could have the book. Koly always liked school, and wanted to be smart throughout her whole life. Koly couldn't afford to go to school from her family. They always needed an extra worker around the house. This book would be reccomended to anyone who likes realistic fiction.
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Summary: Homeless Bird
Review: Have you ever had a marriage arranged by your parents before you even knew who you were going to marry? The novel Homless Bird, by Gloria Whelan, is a realistic fiction book. The book takes place in India in 1970. By reading Homeless Bird, the reader will learn a lot about Indian culture. The main character, Koly, has no choice but to marry the boy her parents chose her. As a result of Koly's marriage, she is introduced to 2 other characters who keep the story going. Sass, Koly's mother-in-law, mistreats Koly, no matter what she does for Sass. Fortunately, Raji comes along and introduces Koly to a new life. Sass, is very stubborn and causes many conflicts in the story. As a result, Koly must solve and figure out all the conflicts that Sass provides. Koly is in Delhi alone, and must find food, shelter, and a job. She finds Raji, (the boy from the rickshaw) and tells her where she can get her widow's pension. Raji is doing this because Koly has nothing left so he helps her. As a result, Koly has money from her pension and can provide her with food and shelter. In the novel, Homeless Bird, by Whelan, Koly, the main character decides whether to say with the Mehtas or runaway. Koly thinks of the consequences of running away such as "Where will I live? How long will my earrings last?" This shows that Koly doesn't like staying with the Mehtas. This is because of the way Sass mistreating Koly. As a result Koly kept her earrings to have enough money to provide her with food and shelter. The theme subject is "Freedom." Koly lies to Sass about loosing her silver earrings because its enough money for her to be free and provide her with food and shelter. The author's message is that freedom is not just physical freedom, but also mental freedom. This is because of Koly's silver earrings that will help her. I would grade this book a 10 out of a 10 because this book has taught you things about Indian culture and catches my attention.
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Summary: Anyone interested in customs of India? This is a "must read"
Review: Having recently seen the popular movie, Bend It Like Beckham, my interest in the wedding ceremonies in India has increased. The book, Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan, is a great accompaniment to find more information. This book is beautifully written with a touch of Hindu history and language but not so much that it overwhelms the reader. Whelan even gives a Hindu glossary in the back of the book so that the reader can understand the unique language.
The main character, Koly, grows up in a wonderful home with loving parents. In the tradition of the culture, Koly is given away in marriage with a dowry. Little did she know that her future husband is very sick and the only reason she is chosen is for her dowry. When her husband dies, she must learn to live with a horrible mother-in-law and sick father-in-law. Her life depends on escaping the tyrannical household. The only hope she has is to sell her mother's silver earrings but even that plan falls short. The book captures her life after her husband dies and her long search for happiness.
The book falls right in line with the theme of "Living in Fear/Finding Hope." Koly finds herself alone at one point in the book and is very fearful of what is to come. She has to find shelter and food in a strange city. She is used to the country life and, in the city, she encounters many things that scare her. Through a chance meeting of a rickshaw worker and a rich lady, she finds the hope and happiness she has always wanted.
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Summary: Homerun for Homeless Bird
Review: Homeless Bird is about a thirteen year old, Indian girl named Koly, who experiences many terrifying situations. She is first forced to leave the only home she has ever known and marry a complete stranger. That is just the beginning. Koly later finds out that her new spouse is dying and the family married him off only to receive a dowry. As soon as her husband dies, Koly is left as an undesirable widow, with a bitter mother-in-law, Sass. Koly is terribly sad and is sick of being bossed around by Sass. She knows that if she returns to her parents' home, it will bring shame to her family. Stuck in a household of hate, Koly realizes that she will die miserable and unwanted. After years of loneliness and terror, she is abandoned by Sass in Vrindavan, a holy city. Koly finds that even though she is left in a strange city, it is the best thing that has ever happened to her. She soon finds happiness. I guess you'll have to read the book to find out what takes her from misery to joy. The author creates a vivid image of the perils and successes of her protagonist, allowing you to cry and laugh with this young, heroic character. The book is hard to put down once you are captured by the stories intensity. Anyone who enjoys stories where courage, hope and perseverance lead to a happy ending will absolutely enjoy this book and love getting to know Koly.
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Summary: Homerun for Homeless Bird
Review: Homeless Bird is about a thirteen year old, Indian girl named Koly, who experiences many terrifying situations. She is first forced to leave the only home she has ever known and marry a complete stranger. That is just the beginning. Koly later finds out that her new spouse is dying and the family married him off only to receive a dowry. As soon as her husband dies, Koly is left as an undesirable widow, with a bitter mother-in-law, Sass. Koly is terribly sad and is sick of being bossed around by Sass. She knows that if she returns to her parents' home, it will bring shame to her family. Stuck in a household of hate, Koly realizes that she will die miserable and unwanted. After years of loneliness and terror, she is abandoned by Sass in Vrindavan, a holy city. Koly finds that even though she is left in a strange city, it is the best thing that has ever happened to her. She soon finds happiness. I guess you'll have to read the book to find out what takes her from misery to joy. The author creates a vivid image of the perils and successes of her protagonist, allowing you to cry and laugh with this young, heroic character. The book is hard to put down once you are captured by the stories intensity. Anyone who enjoys stories where courage, hope and perseverance lead to a happy ending will absolutely enjoy this book and love getting to know Koly.
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Summary: Response to Literature
Review: Homeless Bird is about an Indian girl, Koly who is getting married--to a man she's never met (an arranged marriage.) When the marriage happens, she realises the 19 year old Hari is very sick and only about 13! She later finds out the Mehtas needed money from her dowry to take Hari to the Ganges River. On the trip, Hari dies. And the plot works from there. It really takes you on a trip to India, you can vividly imagine it. Highly recommended to anyone and everyone.
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Summary: Homeless Bird
Review: Homeless Bird One marriage and one death changes Koly's life forever. Koly is a character in Gloria Whelan's Homeless Bird. It is set in India around the 1970s. The novel is realistic fiction. The life of a widow is a hard one in India, the death in Koly's life is that of her husband. Koly is a character that is supremely important for the book.
The book is written from Koly's perspective. Koly is a thirteen-year old girl living in a village in India. Two other important characters are the rickshaw boy, Raji, and Koly's unpleasant stepmother, or Sass. Koly grows more independent and responsible throughout the plot; she goes from living with her family to going to a job and having an apartment, which she shares with a roommate. Koly is married (into a family also living in a village) and then widowed, leaving her with her mean Sass. Koly's Sass abandons her in the city, where she learns to live on her own. She must work hard to get on her feet, working hard to find a source of money and then trying hard on the job. If the reader of this review wants to discover what happens next, they will have to finish the book.
An external conflict Koly experiences is her struggle to get off the city stree
"I can't afford a place to live. Can't I pick up my pension here?"
". . . No, no. Pensions are mailed. Return when you have an address" (pg. 128).
The above quote shows that Koly is trying to end her homelessness because it shows her trying to get some money for rent. The above quote shows what seems a paradox because until she gets an address she cannot get her widows pension, which she needs to get an address. As a result, Koly will have to find another way to get a home.
One of the myriad internal conflicts Koly faces is her fight with herself over whether to run away from her house.
"I began to make plans. I doubted that I could live on the pension alone, but my silver earrings would help me until I could find a job of some sort. But who would hire me?" (pg. 99).
The above quote shows the two sides of Koly's argument against herself. Her argument for running away is speeding along at the start of the quote, but hits her argument for staying at the end. Because of this conflict, Koly gains experience at decision making for the road ahead.
Gloria Whelan put a message about success in her book. It takes Koly three years to be in a place she would like to call home again, but she does. I think this means the authors' message about success is that it usually comes with time. Rome was not built in a day. I thought Homeless Bird was an okay book because, although it offered fascinating insight into the struggle of the Indian widow, the plot at the seemed first to just fling problem after problem at Koly, and then at the end grant her a overly generous helping of good luck.
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