This book left much food for thought! Compelling story of living with water shortages amidst wealthy water mafias kept my heart racing. Made me feel grateful for our resources, and determined to help those without.

I loved the friendship between Meena & Faiza. Minni is such a courageous character! I loved reading her story!

In some ways, this book is reminiscent of A Long Walk to Water, which I also enjoyed. I think middle-grade readers definitely benefit from reading about a wide variety of circumstances (especially when we often take water for granted). And when we take education as a given (not a privilege).

The author notes at the end that World Water Day is each March. Definitely worth noting, especially if you're teaching this book in school!

"I do my water chores at dawn. It feels like I've been working without a proper pause since Ma left."

"Thirst" is a quick read with a fairly simple plot line that tackles some big topics. Minni is growing up in the slums of Mumbai. Water is always an issue for her family. They need to wait in lines to get water and then boil it to prevent against illness. Minni attends 7th grade but it gets harder and harder as her brother and mother have to leave Mumbai and she needs to take on more responsibility at home. The book covers environmental issues, access to education for girls, and the caste system so would work well for class discussion. The simple plot line makes it feel like a book for 3rd-5th grade but the discussions might be better with a 5th or 6th grade class.

I can't wait to put Thirst by Varsha Bajaj onto my library shelves for students to read. It is such a powerful novel about the shortage of clean drinking water in parts of the world. Set in Mumbai, India, Minni and her family struggle to get their fair share of water each day. They spend hours in line obtaining a small amount of water, then hours boiling it to purify it so that it is drinkable. Lately though, even the limited amount they can get is threatened by severe water shortages and theft. Then Minni and her brother witness a water theft and things get dangerous very quickly.

Thanks to NetGalley for this eARC.

Thirst is a wonderfully written novel that draws you in as soon as you start. Minni is a young girl in Mumbai with a desire to be more. When she, along with her brother and friends, see people stealing water from the people of her village, her whole world changes.

Middle grade students will love this novel and I can’t wait to book talk it in my classroom.

A great read that follows Minni and her realization of the unfairness and division with equal water access in her town of Mumbai. Thirst provides a great opportunity for readers to understand the water crisis and culture of Inida. Minni works hard at school and wants to do well. Water is limited and not safe. They had to boil the water daily. When her brother accidentally witnesses a water mafia stealing water, he has to go a stay with family friends. There was fear for his safety. Minni's mom works for the wealthy and she can't believe the stories she hears about faucets with endless water. She wants to find a way to help people with this water crisis.

This book hooks you and makes you want to keep reading. The importance of water and what some countries have to go through to get water is eye opening. Loved the story!

Minni is a seventh grader who lives in the slums of Mumbai as many people do. Minni, her best friend Faiza, Minni's brother Sanjay and his friend Amit witness water being stolen from a water truck. Because Sanjay and Amit were seen, by the water mafia, they leave for a farm in Delhi. Minni's mother becomes ill and leaves for her sister's home to rest. This leaves Minni to take over her mom's maid job as well as keep up with school and her own chores- one being to wait in the long lines for water. This meaningful story will open your eyes to the experience of the poor in Mumbai and the effects of the quality and shortage of water. Thank you, NetGalley and Nancy Paulsen Books for the opportunity to read this important story. My opinions are my own.

In Minni’s world, water is a hot commodity. Mini lives in the poorest section in the city of Mumbai, India where residents must line up for water two times per day. Even then, the water must be boiled and strained to be safe to drink. When Minni discovers there a water mafia who steals the water from the poor to give to the rich, she must try to do something about it even though it is at great risk.
This is a engaging story of a strong-willed girl determined to do what’s right for her community. It also brings awareness to the fact that water is not a given all around the world.

Do you have a thirst? A thirst is more than wanting water. A thirst for an education, food on the table, family at home, a job that provides, and a happy life. Minni thirsts for it all in Thirst by Varsha Bajaj. Thank you for the ALC @varshabaja, @penguinrandom, and @NetGalley
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This will make a great Global Read Aloud (GRA) book and it's selection and setting begs comparisons to The Bridge Home with the hopefulness of Amal Unbound (two previous GRA titles). Global Read Aloud is a reading phenomenon started by Pernille Ripp, an educator formerly based in Wisconsin, but now in Denmark. It encourages classes around the world to read the same book and discuss.

This book, set in Mumbai, and with its focus on such an important issue as the absence of clean drinking water as a basic right for everyone, will create great opportunities for discussion. But not only that, this book is a great view into a life that for many readers will seem both impoverished and rich. Minni's family has a lot working against them. They live in a poor area of the city with no running water. But they live with pride, work hard, support others, and the way that their community supports them through tough times is a great part of this story.

I am so very grateful for Netgalley for an eARC of this incredible read aloud. Chosen as the upper grade book for the Global Read Aloud, this book tells the story of Minni, a courageous preteen who lives in Mumbai. The reader learns about the water crisis and inequalities in this city. I loved this book, just like I loved another one of Ms Bajaj’s book, Count Me In., Ever since I finished, I have been processing how I will be using it in my classroom.

Another home run by Nancy Paulson at Penguin.

Seventh grader Minni is fortunate - not all girls her age in Mumbai can afford school fees and many must work to help support their families. Ma cleans for a wealthy family while Baba toils long hours at his tea shop and older brother Sanjay does food prep in a restaurant. They are still barely making do in their tiny shack, and when health problems and a run in with the local “water Mafia” increase their insecurity, Minni must take on her Ma’s job as well as continuing her classwork. Big ideas include climate change, fair distribution of resources, the caste system, the importance of family and community, and ways education can provide agency. A Global World Reading selection and a good choice for class read aloud or book clubs.

I loved this book told from the perspective of a 12 year old girl living in Mumbai. She had many challenges in her life, but she found ways to work through her challenges and make a difference in her world. I think this will be a great book to share with my 4th graders to help them build awareness of the world and empathy of others.

"Thirst” is a realistic fiction middle grade novel by Varsha Bajaj.

“Thirst” is the story of Minni, a girl who lives in Mumbai. Minni works through many struggles that impact her, her friends, and members of her family- all a result of the unequal access to clean water.

This was a book I started and finished today. It is abundantly clear why it was selected as a 2022 Global Read Aloud selection.

This was a wonderful middle school book about how one girl makes a positive difference in her family, her community, and her own life when she has to temporarily take over her mom's responsibilities while keeping hold of her dreams to get an education and make something of herself. She struggles to juggle all the responsibilities on her plate but eventually learns that there are people she can trust and that she doesn't have to do it all on her own. This story takes place in Mumbai where the lack of clean water most affects the poor, especially the women and children, and is inspired by the true situation in that part of the world, including the water mafia, corrupt men who steal what water there is to be had and further exacerbates the situation for those too poor to do anything about it. Minni is a wonderful heroine whose thirst for knowledge and clean water and a penchant for poetry drew me into her story and the story of her neighborhood. I found myself riveted and was cheering for her by the end. It was wonderful watching her mature over time as she rose to the occasion of her extra responsibilities. When she hugged her mom for the first time near the end, I had tears in my eyes. I loved this story and think it would be a great story in 5th-6th grade to teach children about the lack of clean water in many countries and how it impacts women and children the most as they have to wait in long lines for water, sometimes traveling long distances, and then spending time to purify the water, something that many of us probably can't imagine as we turn on our taps. Highly recommended.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The issue of access to basic life necessities, such as clean drinking water, is a growing concern around the world, and the reality of this challenge is brought to light in this beautiful book. While sometimes sad, it is an ultimately hopeful tale of the strength of the human spirit, the resilience of people facing overwhelming odds, and the community that binds strangers together as family and helps them persevere through it all. As a mother and an educator, seeing the challenges faced by Minni was heartbreaking at times, and it reminds me just how tough the home lives of students may be, and how others may never know the awful things that someone is facing in their life. It was also a heartwarming reminder to see how the community, although poor, banded together to support Minni’s family as they faced each challenge that came their way.

In the USA, we don't think much about water. We don't have to go to the tap in the morning and haul it home in a bucket, rarely have to boil our water to prevent disease, and generally don't worry about it. Thirst introduces Minni, a Hindu girl in the slums of Mumbail for whom this is a daily problem. When her oldee brother surprises a water pirate, one who is stealing water from neighborhoods for resale, and has to go live with family in the country, and her mother has to leave the city to recover from illness, Minni has to take on her mother's job, caring for the family at home, including responsibility for water, and trying to go to school and to her special, Saturday computer class.

This is an excellent book that illustrates global inequity and social justice issues. It is extremely appropriate for middle grade readers and would be excellent for classroom discussion or shared reading,

Thirst is the story of a strong willed girl named Minnie and her fight for what she believes is right. It deals with the inequities that occur in Mumbai. This book was a very easy read making it a good choice for upper elementary. I would have like to see some of the story lines further explored. It would be a great book to spark conversations about water and the lack of access to it in many countries. It could be paired with other texts about water access in other countries.

I learned so much from this book about water in India. I would say that this is a good companion to Long Walk to Water as it talks about the lack of water resources in the world and how girls are prevented from going to school because they have to take care of their family. It broke my heart to read about so many boys and girls who couldn't pursue an education because they had to take care of their family. I take for granted the privileges I have in my world-education is just something that you do. You have to do it to a point.

This book touches on a lot of tough topics, but is very accessible to readers of the middle grade range-4th grade and up. I think it's an important read and am so glad it was picked for the Global Read Aloud. I think it's a perfect book for everyone to read and discuss together.

Thank you Penguin and Nancy Paulsen Books as well as NetGalley for an early copy to read in exchange for a review. Definitely a book I needed.