Ah, serendipity

Every now and then when you're looking for something you find something else entirely.
Some people call it serendipity.

Last week, this amazing book almost literally jumped out at me.
It was tucked away in the shelves, just sitting there - until I had to take it out to weed.
And when my hand went towards it, it fell out of the shelf. Am not sure how this happened, but it felt a bit like magic. It was definitely one of those random moments.

The name of the book is The Conch bearer. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni has written some great books for adults, but it turns out she's also responsible for this fantastic book for kids.

No one had borrowed it for a while. But it was in good condition and still looked fairly attractive. So, it was time to take it home and see what it was like.

After Anand's father disappears everything changes. His family is forced to leave their beautiful apartment to live in a shack in the nearby shanty town. His sister has been struck down by a mysterious illness and his mother barely earns enough for them to get by. Luckily for the family, the boy is able to get a job at a local tea stall.

One day, when the boy has faced a particularly cruel day, he wishes hard for a better life.
For even though he knows a lot of people who don't, Anand believes in magic.
It is almost at that very moment he meets an interesting old man who asks him to go on a dark and dangerous journey...

It's an amazing story and well worth a read. Will definitely not be weeding it.

You can find this book in the primary library - it would be good for kids who are already in secondary and prep too. And all you teachers and parents out there might enjoy it too!