The Bridge Home

• Genre: Fiction; middle grade realistic
• Originally Published: 2019
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 680L; grades 5-8
• Structure/Length: 44 chapters and Author’s Note; approximately 208 pages; 4 hours, 33 minutes on audio
• Protagonist/Central Conflict: Viji, an 11-year-old girl, and her older sister Rukku run away from their abusive father’s home in a small Indian village to the bustling streets of Chennai. There, they form a makeshift family with two unhoused boys, Muthu and Arul, as they navigate the challenges of survival, poverty, and the importance of friendship. The novel explores resilience, compassion, and the strength of human bonds.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Poverty; being without a home; family challenges; developmental and intellectual disability; domestic violence and abuse (particularly against women and children); death of a sibling; economic enslavement; economic disparity; alcohol addiction; mention of natural disaster resulting in death of family members (tsunami)

Padma Venkatraman, Author

• Bio: Born 1969; Indian American author and oceanographer known for her contributions to middle grade and young adult literature; often explores the intersection of culture, identity, and resilience
• Other Works: Climbing the Stairs (2008); Island’s End (2011); A Time to Dance (2014); Born Behind Bars (2021)
• Awards: WNDB Walter Dean Myers Award for Younger Readers (2020); SCBWI Golden Kite Award Young Reader and Middle Grade Fiction (2020)