Since Anand's father left his family in India to go work in Dubai, he's stopped sending home checks, leaving 12-year- old Anand, his ill younger sister, Meera, and their mother destitute. Anand now works in the Bowbajar Market as a dishwasher at a tea stall, scrubbing the pots and glasses till his fingers are red and raw. He's tired, hungry, and worst yet, can no longer afford the fees to attend school. Anand owns a book of Persian fairy tales and wishes someone would give him a magic apple that could cure you of any disease if you just smelled it once or a telescope that could show you anything in the world you wanted to see. Then he could make his sister well and find his father. His mother reprimands him," Those things happen only in storybooks, son. Don't you know that by now?” When Anand first notices the barefoot old man, wrapped in a dirty white cotton shawl, he figures him for a beggar. He is not. He’s come from a secret group, the Brotherhood of Healers, and he needs Anand to join him on a dangerous mission to return their sacred conch to its hiding place, deep in the Himalayan mountains. This electrifying and satisfying quest fantasy by an award-winning poet and adult fiction writer evokes the sights and sounds and mystery of India. Anand’s journey continues with The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming.
Themes: ADVENTURE AND ADVENTURERS. FANTASY. INDIA. MAGIC. MULTICULTURAL BOOKS. SHELLS. VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.
- Honesty, loyalty, and compassion are the virtues demanded by the Healers; Anand's actions show that he has all three. Readers can sympathize with his struggles and long for his success. This traditional story in fresh new clothing should appeal to middle graders.
- Kathleen Isaacs, School Library Journal
- On the whole, it is refreshing to see this particular mingling of old and new, real and magical, in the story container of a children's book. There are places in which the prose just sings, and in all, The Conch Bearer is worth revisiting.
- Uma Krishnaswami, Children
- The unique setting is what sets this novel apart from other fantasy stories, and the quality of the writing is above average.
- Alice Stern, VOYA