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by Gloria Whelan
It is 1918, six months after the end of World War I, and Rosalind awaits the return of her father from the war. While it is common practice for British children in India to be packed off to boarding school at the age of 6, Rosalind is unusual because she lives and is schooled in India because her mother insists. The heart of this penetrating story is Rosalind's coming of age set against the hardship of life for the Indian people, Rosalind's daily life in India, the rise of Ghandi and Rosalind's coming to make her own decisions and become her own person.
"Whelan's vivid, episodic story explores the tension between doing what's right, rather than what's expected, and the infinite complexities of colonialism: 'Though I have never been there, home, of course, is England.'" - Booklist
"Starred Review. Whelan's insight into history and her characters' minds make every moment of this saga believable. Ages 9-12." - Publishers Weekly
"This is a beautifully written, fascinating, and informative story. Grades 6-10." - School Library Journal
"National Book Award winner Whelan's characters are more types than people, and there is little of the flavor of the subcontinent in this overstuffed, occasionally pleasant tale of a plucky young woman in Raj-era India. Ages 12-14." - Kirkus
This information about Small Acts of Amazing Courage was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Gloria Whelan is the awardwinning and critically acclaimed author of many books for children and young adults. She won the National Book Award for young people's literature for her novel Homeless Bird. A versatile author of historical and contemporary fiction for children and young adults, as well as short stories and poetry for adults, Whelan is, according to Liz Rosenberg in the Chicago Tribune, "an accomplished, graceful, and intelligent writer." Visit her online at gloriawhelan.com
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