Thirst

Thirst
Varsha Bajaj
Nancy Paulsen/Penguin, 2022
179 pages
Grades 4-8
Realistic Fiction

Minni lives with her parents and brother in the slums of Mumbai. She is blessed to go to a private school; the fees being paid by her mother's employer. Life is hard. Water is scarce and women must wait hours to obtain just enough to keep their families clean-ish and hydrated. The situation seems to be getting worse as the planet gets hotter and the water begins to run from the town pumps at a trickle. One night Minni's brother witnesses illegible operations by the water mafia and is spotted. He is no longer safe and must retreat to the country to lay-low for a while. Meanwhile, Mom is tired and ill. She cannot continue to care for the family and travels to her sister's house to rest and recuperate. Could it be cancer? Now Minni is left to care for the household and her father. To make matters worse, she must cover her mother's job working as a maid for a rich family until Mom returns. Minni is lonely, makes a terrible maid, and is performing badly at school. If she doesn't pass her tests, she will be forced to drop out. When all seems lost, help comes from unexpected places and Minni learns to fight for what is important to her.

I foolishly thought that this was a science fiction book set in the future where the planet was running out of water. To my surprise, it turned out to be a realistic contemporary story set in our current world. As Bajaj points out in an author's note at the end of the book, one in ten people on the planet live without access to clean water. It was an eye-opener to me (as it will be to young readers) that this is still a problem in 2022. Readers will identify with Minni, who is a typical young girl, yet must rise to very real challenges. She finds solace in her friendships and mentors, working through her problems with the help of community. Minni also has some ethical dilemmas to figure out, which she does successfully. Readers will walk away with a greater appreciation of basic resources that we take for granted, such as safety, water, food and education. Bajaj fully realizes the Mumbai setting and the struggles of daily life. A wonderful window for American kids into another area of the world of which they may not be familiar.