The Bridge Home~ Padma Venkatraman

Summer break is amazing because I can read a book almost every day!! I’m so excited! And I’m so happy to have read this novel, in particular. The Bridge Home, by Padma Venkatraman, features 11-year-old Viji. The day after her birthday, she decides to run away from her violent home, taking her sister, Rukku, with her. The sisters take a bus to Chennai, India, hoping to find work and a better life. Unfortunately, when they get there, they quickly learn that no one has time or jobs for beggars, and they are completely and utterly on their own. That is until they meet two boys in similar circumstances named Muthi and Arul.

The boys become family and they make a home under a bridge together. Although the four have each other, life is not easy for them. They work as ragpickers--wading each day through the mounds of garbage and sewage in India’s landfills, hunting for valuable materials they can trade for money. Danger lurks in every corner, and one day, Viji is forced to make a decision that changes everything, and she is not sure life can ever be the same. This novel is a beautiful and eye-opening read, and I recommend it to any student age 10+ interested in learning about the experiences of thousands of children without homes or family in countries around the world. 

Maturity: 1/4

This novel is appropriate for students age 10+.  Though the novel is sad, and Viji loses her sister at the end, the book does not have any mature content. 

Pages: 191

Lexile: 680L

Lexile is a score that helps educators and parents match students with an appropriate text. A Lexile score is a measure of both a child’s reading ability and a text difficulty. However, Lexile does not take into account the content of a novel. So, pairing readers with a text is a complex process, and knowledge of a novel’s themes and plot is necessary to make a high-quality recommendation.If you are curious about the grade-level equivalent to Lexile scores, check out the conversion chart here!