Boys Without Names

By: Kashmira Sheth

Narrated by: Neil Shah

Trapped.

For 11-year-old Gopal and his family, life in their rural Indian village is over: We stay, we starve, his baba has warned. With the darkness of night as cover, they flee to the big city of Mumbai in hopes of finding work and a brighter future. Gopal is eager to help support his struggling family until school starts, so when a stranger approaches him with the promise of a factory job, he jumps at the offer.

But Gopal has been deceived. There is no factory, just a small, stuffy sweatshop where he and five other boys are forced to make beaded frames for no money and little food. The boys are forbidden to talk or even to call one another by their real names. In this atmosphere of distrust and isolation, locked in a rundown building in an unknown part of the city, Gopal despairs of ever seeing his family again.

But late one night, when Gopal decides to share kahanis, or stories, he realizes that storytelling might be the boys' key to holding on to their sense of self and their hope for any kind of future. If he can make them feel more like brothers than enemies, their lives will be more bearable in the shop - and they might even find a way to escape.

©2010 Kashmira Sheth (P)2021 Tantor

A story that has to be told again and again

Very moving and heart-wrenching story of children trapped in labor trafficking. The more people are aware of it happening, the better we can get at recognizing this injustice and do something about it. This is a story that tends to stick with you long after the last chapter. Children are so innocent and easily fall victim to master manipulators. May we do better. No child should have their childhood stolen by another.

Great read for a teen boy

I really enjoyed most of the book-the story was fast paced and never boring. It gave a realistic look into the life of people in difficult situation’s.

The insane turn after chapter 9 that took the rest of the plot!

Amazing book! It definitely should be turned into a movie!!! If you like an inspiring story of people from 3 world countries, and slaves breaking free this is for you!!

Not the exciting

It was very brining nothing that exciting very basic and not that cool I would not read it agin