Broken Glass

Author: Sally Grindley

Genre: Real Life

Age Range: 10 +

Theme/Subject: India, loss, families, abuse, hardship, poverty

Publisher: Bloomsbury

ISBN: 9780747586159

Summary: (Taken from the Blurb)

When two brothers find themselves homeless in the big city, things are much harder than they could ever have imagined. With the help of some other children, the brothers learn how to survive on the street. They start to work as glass collectors and soon things don’t seem so very bad – until one day Suresh realises that his younger brother isn’t coping as well as he thought. Suresh has to think very hard about how to save Sandeep, and himself, from a terrible fate.

Review:

This is the first book of Sally Grindley’s that I have read and will certainly not be the last! The author’s tale of poverty and hardship in Southern India, told through the account of two young boys, is a breath of fresh air from the consistent hard-lined Post-Potter era (not that I have anything against Harry at all). ‘Broken Glass’ is an important story for children. It illustrates life in the dark and dirty streets of India; allowing the reader to glimpse the daily life of a street-child. The city landscape is painted with a harsh and often unforgiving palette, where friendship and fortitude are all that keep you going.

Grindley’s first-person narrative is seen through the eyes of Suresh, eldest of the two boys. I found it remarkable how she made the story actually sound like a twelve year old boy, inviting us to see the India around him through tourist-like eyes. This was done cleverly, since Suresh and Sandeep run away from their parents to a part of India that they have yet to discover themselves. The brothers, after leaving home, greet us with a very broad range of characters who help breathe life into the city’s streets as well as keeping the story interesting and absorbing.

The story’s pace is calm and although 270 odd pages, the size of the text and spacing of the lines means that you find yourself comfortably making your way through the book. Nothing is rushed, which is what really endeared me to the story. Although the time-scale of the narrative takes place over months, I felt the heart of the story beat at a steady and controlled rhythm which allowed me to get into the characters and get a real sense of pace: I could clearly see the games of cricket on the wasteland. I also found that I as I read further into the book, I began tasting and smelling the country that Grindley unravels before us, such is the skill with which she paints the picture of India’s streets.

‘Broken Glass’ refers to the job that Suresh and his brother must undertake in order to collect enough money to buy food and live within the squalor of the city. Luckily, the spirit of the other street children and the sense of togetherness keeps them going. My heart very much went out to Chintu who, even in the face of great poverty, was able to smile and live an apparently happy life. I often found myself wishing, as I was coming to the closing pages of the book, that both boys would be safe and well by its end. Grindley, I feel, finds the perfect balance to her story’s end: believable and yet not too ‘Hollywood’.

I would recommend this book to any child or parent who wants to share an understanding of what the world can be like for those, perhaps less fortunate than us. It allows us a glimpse into an India that we know of and that, perhaps, children should begin to know about so that they can appreciate how lucky they are. They can also begin to become involved in issues that must never go unnoticed. I look forward to Sally’s next novel, ‘Torn Pages’ which will be published next February.