A Review of 'Small Acts of Amazing Courage' by Gloria Whelan (Audio Book)

"It is 1918, six months after the end of World War I, and Rosalind awaits the return of her father from the warm.  While it is common practice for British children in India to be packed off to boarding school at the age of 6, Rosalind is unusual because she lives and is schooled in India because her mother insists.  The heart of this penetrating story is Rosalind's coming of age set against the hardship life for the India people, Rosalind's daily life in India, and the rise of Ghandi and Rosalind's coming to make her own decisions and become her own person."

I wasn't sure what to expect when I borrowed this audio book from my digital library.  But I was pleasantly surprised.  Rosalind is a charming character with a big heart.  Her acts of kindness and courage started by accident, but then it just came as a natural thing to her.  She's such a figure of social justice, and that's a beautiful thing.

This book takes place at the same time that Ghandi is working for peace and independence for India.  I knew that this happened in history, but I still don't know a lot about it.  It was nice to know how those events fit into someone with a fairly average life in India (well, an average English person in India).

I liked how someone so young as Rosalind can make such a big difference in the lives of a variety of ages, whether that's caring about a baby and finding proper care for him or motivating someone older than her to take control of her life and take what's hers.  She fights for freedom in all kinds of ways.  This is wonderful.

Someday, I'd like to find a hard copy of this book so that I can read it myself as opposed to having it read to me.  The narrator of this book was wonderful, switching between English and Indian accents.  It really added to this book.  I'm glad that I listened first.

I give 'Small Acts of Amazing Courage':

Thanks for Reading!

--Jude