Saraswati's Way by Monica Schroder

Akash, a village boy, lives with his family in the Rajasthan region. The land is not giving good yield because there is no rain that year. His family are heavily under debt. He lives with his cousin, his grandmother, his father,his aunt and his uncle. He has an ability to play with numbers. His brain can memorize anything as long as it is maths, though he is good in other subjects also. His grandmother always thinks that boys above the age of eight should be sent off to work and girls above the age of ten should be married away. When his father passes away, he is left with his unemotional grandmother and his drug addict gambler uncle. He realizes that heis the only source of money for the family. His grandmother soon sends him to the quarry to pay off their debt from where Akash escapes to Delhi. There he comes into the company of a drug dealer and some "glue addicts". With the help of the book seller, on whose roof he sleeps, he is able to realise his dream of going to school and winning a scholorship. This story is very good and makes us realise the hardships faced by poor people in a village and hardships faced by a poor boy in a city. Sometimes people dont know when they are getting into bad company. This book tells us if your too late to realize that then how to take hold of the situation. Monica Schroder has writte this book beautifully.