Born Behind Bars

Born Behind Bars | Sep 07, 2021 | ISBN 9780593112472 | Middle Grade (10 and up)

The author of the award-winning The Bridge Home brings readers another gripping novel set in Chennai, India, featuring a boy who’s unexpectedly released into the world after spending his whole life in jail with his mom.

Read a few pages or listen to an excerpt narrated by the author

Kabir has been in jail since the day he was born, because his mom is serving time for a crime she didn’t commit. He’s never met his dad, so the only family he’s got are their cellmates, and the only place he feels the least bit free is in the classroom, where his kind teacher regales him with stories of the wonders of the outside world. Then one day a new warden arrives and announces Kabir is too old to stay. He gets handed over to a long-lost “uncle” who unfortunately turns out to be a fraud, and intends to sell Kabir. So Kabir does the only thing he can–run away as fast as his legs will take him. How does a boy with nowhere to go and no connections make his way? Fortunately, he befriends Rani, another street kid, and she takes him under her wing. But plotting their next move is hard–and fraught with danger–in a world that cares little for homeless, low caste children. This is not the world Kabir dreamed of–but he’s discovered he’s not the type to give up. Kabir is ready to show the world that he–and his mother–deserve a place in it.

Praise for BORN BEHIND BARS

ProjectLIT 2021 selection

A Parents Magazine “Raising the Future” book club pick

Book of the month for November

Mr. John Schu and Travis Jonker’s Top 20 Books of 2021

Boston Globe Best Books of 2021

Kirkus Best Books 2021

School Library Journal Best Books 2021

Center for the Study of Multicultural Literature Best Books 2021

India Currents YA Books that Stole 2021

A Junior Library Guild Selection

“…compelling novel…evocative details…full of action. A gritty story filled with hope and idealism.” Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“An optimistic and earnest tale of the power of hope and the gift of family in all forms.” ALA Booklist, Starred Review 

“authentic…heartfelt…resonant…well-rounded” SLJ, Starred Review

“confidently stripped down, crystalline style…Borrowing elements of fable” NYT Book Review

“a tale of hardship and hope, capable of making a grown person cry” Providence Journal

“Venkatraman (The Bridge Home) renders the gripping circumstances surrounding Kabir and Rani’s journey with a keen attention to character and plot, making for an immersive reading experience.” Publishers Weekly

“The Bridge Home and Born Behind Bars are both so beautiful and powerful. Padma is one of my favorite authors.” Margarita Engle, Newbery Honor winning author

“Hope. Resilience. Verisimilitude. That’s what we’ve learned to expect from all of Padma’s books, and it’s true of her heartfelt Born Behind Bars… a powerful story… I won’t give away the ending, of course, but I will say that those who loved The Bridge Home will be thrilled to see the appearance of a character from that book in Born Behind Bars. Brava, Padma, and thank you for another un-put-downable book!” Kathryn Erskine, National Book Award winning author

“Venkatraman has written a heartwarming tale of friendship and family ties that is sure to enthrall readers as well as remind them that justice should be fought for, and relationships should be nurtured, no matter where you live.” Saadia Faruqui, Author and Interfaith Activist

“Filled with memorable characters, this emotional story will bring empathy and cultural awareness to upper elementary/middle-grade readers; the short chapters will provide a good read-aloud for teachers, librarians, and parents.” Lesley Roessing, Educator

Order now:

To order via your independent bookstore or whatever mode suits you best, click on this link and choose whatever buying method you prefer: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/647196/born-behind-bars-by-padma-venkatraman/

Discussion Guide

Click here to download a free discussion guide for Born Behind Bars: https://bit.ly/BornBehindBarsGuide

Writing Prompts Inspired by Born Behind Bars:

Padma Venkatraman’s trademark humor, which stems in an organic manner and is rooted in the characters is as much an integral part of Born Behind Bars as the serious themes the novel explores. Here’s a short prompt in which she invites you to try your hand at writing a snippet of funny dialogue.

Padma Venkatraman is a poet as well as a novelist. Born Behind Bars is a prose novel, but while editing it, the author worked hard to accentuate the poetic elements; and the prose is formatted similar to prose poetry. In this prompt, she speaks about what white space means to her and inspires you to consider wordlessness as well as the words you choose to use as you write your own piece.

A story starter from Padma Venkatraman based on Born Behind Bars.

A poetry prompt from Padma Venkatraman based on the poetic first page of Born Behind Bars.

Padma Venkatraman is an author, not an illustrator, but at the end of this piece in which she speaks about the parrot in Born Behind Bars, she encourages you to try drawing a parrot in a traditional Indian folk art style.

Resources

For teachers and parents seeking to scaffold learning and help young people navigate nuanced questions that may arise after reading BORN BEHIND BARS, and frame problems with reference to the United States, here are a few links:

An article that presents statistics on incarceration https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/09/jn

The Conviction Podcast https://gimletmedia.com/shows/conviction

The Innocence Project https://innocenceproject.org/facts-racial-discrimination-justice-system-wrongful-conviction-black-history-month/

Poetic Justice https://www.poeticjustice.org/

Rehabilitation Through The Arts https://www.rta-arts.org/

Hour Children https://hourchildren.org/

Order now: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/647196/born-behind-bars-by-padma-venkatraman/

Born Behind Bars

Award-winning author Padma Venkatraman brings readers another gripping novel set in Chennai, India, about a boy who’s unexpectedly released into the world after spending his whole life in jail with his mom. Born Behind Bars features the reappearance of a beloved character from The Bridge Home.

Kabir has been in jail since the day he was born, because his mom is serving time for a crime she didn’t commit. He’s never met his dad, so the only family he’s got are their cellmates, and the only place he feels the least bit free is in the classroom, where his kind teacher regales him with stories of the wonders of the outside world. Then one day a new warden arrives and announces Kabir is too old to stay. He gets handed over to a long-lost “uncle” who unfortunately turns out to be a fraud, and intends to sell Kabir. So Kabir does the only thing he can–run away as fast as his legs will take him. How does a boy with nowhere to go and no connections make his way? Fortunately, he befriends Rani, another street kid, and she takes him under her wing. But plotting their next move is hard–and fraught with danger–in a world that cares little for homeless, low caste children. This is not the world Kabir dreamed of–but he’s discovered he’s not the type to give up. Kabir is ready to show the world that he–and his mother–deserve a place in it.

Preorder now from:

Want to order the Audiobook narrated by Padma Venkatraman? Click here.

EnJOY hearing Dr. Padma Venkatraman chat to John Schu and Donalyn Miller about BORN BEHIND BARS (a wee bit), THE BRIDGE HOME (mostly) and about booklove in general on Mr. Schu’s BookJoy Live.