The Conch Bearer - Hardcover

Chitra-banerjee-divakaruni

3.73

2,165 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1904442110 ISBN 13: 9781904442110

Publisher: The Chicken House, 2004

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

Anand wants his life to change. He was a happy 12-year old before he was forced to go and work on the streets of his home in India. His chance comes, the day he meets a strange and ragged old beggar. Who is he? What does he want? The old man needs help returning a stolen possession of immeasurable value, and he reveals a tiny, beautiful shell. But this is no ordinary conch, it has a potent power of its own and must be taken to a place of safety many hundreds of miles away. Anand and the old man set out and are soon joined by Nisha, a headstrong but resourceful, young sweeper girl. Together they travel across burning plains and turbulent rivers to reach the mountainous Silver Valley. A journey made even more dangerous by evil spirits and fantastical creatures; sent by a thief who can feel the force of the conch, and who is never far behind them.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an award-winning adult author. Born in India, she now lives in California. First published by Neil Porter in the USA, The Conch Bearer has won critical praise.

From AudioFile:

When we first meet 12-year-old Anand, he is carrying an armload of dishes through a crowded tea stall of Kolkata, India. His sister is sick, and his mother depends on the little he brings home. But he's a gentle boy, not hardened by this environment, kind to others, and, most of all, he believes in the magic of dreams. That is why those who keep the conch come to him for help. Somehow whorled into this conch are great powers, and it must be returned. Reader Alan Cumming's voice echoes with this mysterious energy and the noisy streets of India. It has that delicate hint of the Indian English dialect that is at once so precise and so distant, in a story that suggests both the magic of Harry Potter and the grit of Dickens's OLIVER TWIST. Both story and reader are pungent with the spiced tea and the spiked lightning of Anand's fantasy, if it is fantasy. P.E.F. � AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright � AudioFile, Portland, Maine

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.