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Summary
Summary
A twelve-year-old boy living on the streets of Chandigarh, India, stumbles across a secret garden full of sculptures and sees the possibility of another way of life as he bonds with the man who created them in this searingly beautiful novel based on a true story.
Twelve-year-old Ram is a street boy living behind a sign on a building's rooftop, barely scraping by, winning games of gilli for money, occasionally given morsels of food through the kindness of Mr. Singh, a professor and father of his friend Daya.
But his prowess at gilli is what gets him into big trouble. One day, when he wins against some schoolboys fair and square, the boys are infuriated. As they chase Ram across town, he flings his small sack of money over a factory gate where no one can get it, and disappears into the alleyways. But someone does get the money, Ram discovers when he sneaks back later on to rescue what is his--a strange-ish man on a bike who also seems to be collecting...rocks? Ram follows the man into the jungle, where he finds something unlike anything he's seen--statues, hundreds of statues...no, thousands of them! Gods and goddesses and buildings, all at half scale. What is this place? And the rock collecting man, Nek, has built them all! When Nek discovers that Ram has followed him, he has no choice but to let the boy stay and earn back the money Nek has spent. How else can he keep him quiet? For his creations lie on land that isn't technically his to build on.
As Ram and Nek hesitantly become friends, Ram learns the true nature of this hidden village in the jungle, as well as the stories of Shiva and Lord Rama, stories of gods and goddesses that in strange ways seem to parallel Ram's...and Nek's.
Based on the true story of one of India's most beloved artists and modern day folk heroes, Nek Chand was a real man--a man displaced from his home in the midst of war and conflict; a man who missed his home so terribly he illegally reconstructed his entire village in miniature out of found objects and rock, recreating mosaic statues and sculptures spanning acres of jungle. Though Ram is a fictionalized character, Nek's artwork is real. Intertwined with mythology and the sociopolitics of India, this is an exquisitely wrought, unexpected, and singular tale about the connection of community and how art can help make us human.
Author Notes
Jennifer Bradbury is the author of the middle grade novel River Runs Deep and of several critically acclaimed young adult novels, including A Moment Comes , Wrapped , and her debut, Shift --which Kirkus Reviews called "fresh, absorbing, compelling" in a starred review. Shift was picked as an ALA and a School Library Journal Best Book for Young Adults and is also on numerous state reading lists. A rock climber herself, she is also a teacher in Burlington, Washington, where she lives with her family.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-6-After Ram loses his bag of winnings from playing a stick-and-ball game called gilli, he stumbles upon an art garden in the middle of the jungle, created by a mysterious man named Nek. Nek introduces him to stories from the Ramayana, which enthrall, educate, and inspire the young homeless boy. When Nek's health takes a turn for the worse, threatening his livelihood and his ability to curate his sculpture garden, Ram enlists the aid of his well-off friend's father to save Nek's statues. Ram and Nek's relationship deepens as Ram becomes more engrossed in the artwork and the stories. The selected tales from the Ramayana are skillfully woven throughout the novel. Although the class lines between Ram and his wealthy friend's father seem a bit too blurred to be completely believable and the happy-ever-after ending is not the most likely one for a homeless child in India, the generosity and concern shown to Ram are uplifting. The difficulties of street life and the experiences of the working poor are apparent. Despite Ram's hard life, the examples of kindness displayed throughout and the story's ultimate triumph make this a hopeful tale that will be enjoyed by readers of a wide variety of ages. An author's note explains Bradbury's personal connection with India and the actual Nek Chand's Rock Garden. Hindi words are italicized. VERDICT Recommended for those seeking modern-day stories in India that don't shy away from the harsh realities of homeless youth.-Jennifer Schultz, Fauquier County Public Library, Warrenton, VA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In an inspiring and multilayered story partly based on the life of Nek Chand, a self-taught Indian artist, a homeless teenage orphan scrapes by with his wits on the streets of Chandigarh, a "young" city "built as a symbol of hope and new beginnings." Running away from a gang of rich boys from whom he won money playing a game called gilli, Ram accidentally drops his winnings and watches Nek, a factory worker, discover the windfall. Intending to steal the money back, Ram follows Nek to a hideout in the woods, where he sees the man using found materials to create a small city with houses, gardens, and an army of laughing statues on property that doesn't belong to him. From Nek and other friends, Ram learns the story of Rama, which Nek describes as "the story of all of India.... It is every story ever told wrapped into one." In Ram, Bradbury (River Runs Deep) creates a gutsy, compassionate protagonist who longs to be "more than just a kid who has been left behind." Ages 8-12. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
In the northern Indian city of Chandigarh, fictional street boy Ram's life intersects with that of a real self-taught artist, Nek Chand, creator of an amazing garden of sculptures fabricated from recycled materials. Ram helps save the garden from destruction in this compelling contemporary story that also successfully weaves in parts of the Ramayana, the great Indian epic. Author's note. Glos. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In Chandigarh, a town in northern India, is Nek Chand's Rock Garden, a magnificent, 40-acre garden of some 5,000 sculptures made from recycled ceramics, industrial waste, and discarded household scrapand the real-life inspiration for this historical novel. Bradbury (A Moment Comes, 2013, etc.), who worked as a teacher in Chandigarh, offers a thoughtful novel based on this story, featuring 12-year-old dark-haired (and presumed dark-skinned) protagonist Ram. A shrewd orphan street kid, Ram accidently discovers Nek Chand's secret, built over years on unused government land, and is delighted to help him make those beautiful figurines. When the situation turns desperate and the garden is threatened, Ram shows them to his friend Daya and her father, Mr. Singh, an art-loving urban planner who helps save this incredible folk art from being demolished. Intertwined with Ram's story, and printed on pages with a patterned background, is an incomplete version of the Ramayana, the mythological legend of Rama, Sita, and the 10-headed demon Ravana, as it parallels Ram's life. Some details do not conform to the norms of traditional Indian society. Why does Mr. Singh allow his daughter to roam the streets with homeless urchin Ram? Why doesn't Ram address Mr. Singh and Nek Chand with proper respect, as Singhji and Nekji? Apart from this, Bradbury immerses readers in Ram's world, authentically describing the sights, smells, and sounds of Chandigarh's streets and the daily lives of its inhabitants. Readers will wish for visuals to complement Bradbury's descriptions of Chand's creations; she does provide further information on both it and the Ramayana in an author's note. A compassionate story of homelessness and friendship, recycled art and community. (glossary) (Historical fiction. 9-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Ram survives as a street urchin on the bustling streets of Chandigarh, India, by betting on his uncanny talent in gilli, a stick-hitting game. When a gang of boys, angry at losing, demand Ram's earnings, he flees and in the process, loses the satchel containing his entire savings. The bag is found by a mysterious man in the jungle, who lives in an abandoned village alongside exquisite statues of his own design. When Ram confronts the man, the man offers to employ the young boy as an apprentice artist. This relationship between Ram and Nek, the old man, is the heart of the story. As Nek instructs Ram on how to build statues, he tells stories first the Ramayana, the ancient Indian epic, and later on, Nek's own tragic tale about leaving his childhood home. In turn, Ram relates his life on the streets, and then one day he remembers his sister promising to give him a better life, before disappearing forever. Bradbury crafts a multidimensional tale that depicts hope and friendship forged by the power of stories.--Suarez, Reinhardt Copyright 2010 Booklist