Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. Padma Venkatraman's "Born Behind Bars" tells the story of Kabir who was born in jail and then is tossed out shortly after his 9th birthday. He is unaware of the intricacies of the outside world. He meets Rani, who takes him under her wing and together they survive the streets of Chennai. A heartwarming story of family, discovery and survival.

When she was pregnant with him, Kabir Khan's mother was accused of a crime she did not commit and put into a Chennai jail where he was born. He has lived there since that day, in a cell with several other women besides his mother. Small for his age, no one paid much attention to Kabir until the new warden decides that at age 9, he is old enough to be released. Before he goes, his teacher at the prison school tries her best to prepare him for the outside world, as do his cellmates.

On the day of his release, Kabir is picked up by a man who says he is his uncle. But it doesn't take long for him to realize that the man is not a relative and that he plans to sell Kabir. Using his wits, Kabir manages to escape and in the process he meets Rani, a Kurava (Roma) girl a few years older than him and living on the streets with her pet parrot.

Rani take Kabir under her wing, teaching him how to survive on the streets, educating him on India's caste system that makes low caste people like them invisible to others. Together, they manage to earn money for food - Rani tells fortunes and Kabir sings. Kabir knows all about his father and how much his dad loved his mother, but his father never told his parents about his wife before he left for Dubai because she is Hindu and Kabir's father's family are Muslim. Now, Kabir is determined to go to Bengaluru to find his grandparents.

A stroke of good luck and Kabir's strong sense of honesty enables him to get enough money to buy train tickets to Bengaluru for him and Rani. Sadly, they face caste discrimination buying the tickets and riding the train, but also kindness of strangers helping them. In Bengaluru, they find the mosque that the Khan family worships at and follow a man to his business thinking he might be a relative of Kabir's. But when fighting over water breaks out, Rani manages to help the man save his business. In return, he posts their pictures on social media and luck is once again on Kabir's side. His grandparents see the post and manage to find him and Rani. Soon, Kabir finally has new, clean clothes, enough to eat, a room of his own and he even makes another friend who teaches him how to play cricket. Rani, who hates being confined indoors, is introduced to a woman who runs a school that allows her to live in a tent of her own with her parrot, and get an education. The woman also knows lawyers who may be able to get Kabir's mother released so that they can be reunited.

Born Behind Bars is told in chapters that consist of short paragraphs and that are narrated entirely from Kabir's open, honest, observant perspective. Though his eyes, readers learn what jail is like for the women and children who are incarcerated there, and also what life on the streets is like for so many children in India. Kabir's story is a nice mix of good and bad things happening to both him and Rani as Venkatraman explores themes of poverty, tolerance and intolerance of religious and caste differences, justice and injustice, loss and revelation. I also think it may be surprising for young American readers to realize that children can find themselves alone in the world on the streets of India and that it isn't just a thing of the past.

But is Kabir's luck too good to be true? I wondered that as I read the book and perhaps the story focused on the upshot of his good luck rather than the alternatives. Think what could have been if his fraudulent uncle has managed to sell this plucky, hopeful boy into what would have amounted to slavery.

I have always enjoyed reading Padma Venkatraman's novels set in India and this is no exception. The writing is beautiful, the story is poignant, and Kabir is a character you won't soon forget. He is honest, with an engaging sense of humor regarding his circumstances (I loved his private nicknames for the women with whom he shared his jail cell) and the challenges he faces on a daily basis. It is, in short, an enlightening, compelling novel.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+
This book was an eARC gratefully received from NetGalley.com

Born in a Pandemic, a Children’s Novel Tackles the Broken Justice System

In 2013, multi-award-winning author Padma Venkatraman read an article about Kanhaiya Kumari who had been born in
prison in India. When he was too old to remain there, he was sent out into the world alone without his mother. She never
forgot about that boy.

“When the pandemic hit,” Venkatraman wrote on librarian, educator, and writer John Schu’s blog, “I returned to a draft of
[a young boy’s] story that I had written and set aside. As the world entered a ‘lockdown’ I was drawn to this character
who had spent his whole life locked up ... I wrote and rewrote during the pandemic.”

The result is Born Behind Bars, the powerful and instructive middle-grade companion novel to her fourth book, The
Bridge Home. She continues to explore child homelessness; families of choice and birth; and caste, religious, and cultural
differences. But this time, she also examines a prejudicial and broken justice system and how it affects children.

Read my full review at https://whenlooseendsmeet.com/2021/09/08/born-behind-bars-by-padma-venkatraman/

This book will have you turning pages until the end! Kabir was born behind bars and only knows life in jail. When a new administrator comes to the prison, Kabir is forced to leave his mother. He doesn't quite know how to find his father and is sent to live with an uncle. Is he really related to Kabir though? Can he make it on the streets without his mother? How will a nine year old survive the streets of India?

This powerful story illuminates the problem of homelessness and the justice system in India, yet gives readers hope in human kindness and the possibilities of change. I honestly felt like crying with joy during the last third of the book -- it so emotionally resonate.

A compelling look at the caste system, the criminal justice system, and figuring out where you belong. Even though Kabir has lived all 9 years of his life in jail, his innocence and optimism are absolutely charming. The chapters are short and quick-paced; highly recommended for reluctant middle grade readers interested in rooting for an underdog.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of Born Behind Bars!

This is one of the most beautiful, sweet, heartwarming stories I have ever read! It tells the story of Kabir, a young boy who is born in prison in India because his mother has been wrongfully incarcerated. One day, a new warden comes and tells Kabir that he has to leave immediately, so he is turned loose into the world with no family and no friends. He makes friends with a homeless girl named Rani and goes on a journey to find his father's family, who he has never met. Kabir is an extremely sympathetic character, and I kept wanting to read more to find out what happens to him. The treatment of low-caste people, especially children, in India is heartbreaking, but the author does a good job of portraying it in a way that children can read about and understand, and there are plenty of hopeful moments throughout the book, so while there are certainly some distressing themes, the book overall is extremely uplifting. The friendship between Kabir and Rani is so sweet, and Kabir's love for his mother is so beautiful as well.

This is truly a special book, and I highly recommend it to just about anyone!

Venkatraman once again tells a difficult yet hopeful story of children managing to survive on their own in India. Perhaps because Kabir does have a loving mother, even though she's in jail, I didn't find this as difficult to read as "The Bridge Home" and so I would recommend this for a slightly audience. Nine-year-old Kabir is both naive and intelligent as he tries to figure out life outside of prison. Rani, besides being a strong, street-smart guide for Kabir, also gives readers a glimpse into the unique Kuravar (Roma) culture. The feel-good ending may not be realistic for many kids in similar situations but it's one that show there are reasons for hope. Recommended for ages 7-10.

I was so excited to see another book by Padma, as I really loved The Bridge Home and Born Behind Bars does not disappoint! Heartbreaking, unique and heartwarming altogether, this story is about Kabir, who is a child that was born and grew up in jail. He is now getting too old to stay there, so he has to leave his mother and the only walls he ever knew to embark on his own journey.

This story of a young boy born to a mother who was falsely imprisoned is both heartbreaking and affirming. Set in Chennai, as The Bridge Home was, it gently pulls you along through Kabir's tale navigating a world filled with good and evil, kind people and nasty. This will be a must for grades 4-7 next year.

One of my favorite authors, I’ve read everything Padma Venkatraman has written for middle schoolers and young adults. Again I’ve read a book that I’m excited to share with my students and teachers. With characters that read genuine and situations gleaned from headlines, Venkatraman’s books implore empathy from the audience.
In “Born Behind Bars” the author explores incarceration, poverty, Muslim-Hindu relations, tolerance, family, and loss as well as other issues. A quick and compelling read.

In the past I saw a documentary about how in some countries children are kept with their mothers if they are in jail. "Born Behind Bars" is the story of Kabir, a 9 year old little boy who's mother was accused of a crime and was too poor for court, so was thrown in jail. He's too old to stay in jail any longer, so is released to someone who claims to be his uncle. It turns out, it's not his uncle, and he escapes when he discovers that he is about to be sold.

Yikes! The story goes on and tells of his meeting a little girl who is also on her own (Rani). The two of them become close and find ways to survive on the streets while Kabir tries to find his father and free his mother.

I was a bit annoyed by how Rani called Kabir "Prince of <fill in the blank>" but it is a minor gripe. The story itself was fast paced and I'm quite happy by how things worked out. It was nice to see that not everything was perfect towards the end of the story (without giving spoilers).

I absolutely recommend this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC

Thanks to Netgalley for an e-ARC of this novel.

I've loved Padma Venkatraman's other middle grade novels and was looking forward to this one. The story of Kabir, the reader follows Kamir as he leaves the prison he was born in, all he's ever known, to experience Chennai. This wasn't my favorite of Venkatraman's novels. Kabir was a sympathetic character, but his story was a harder one to relate to than her other stories. I wished that he had been developed more as character, and his new life explored further.