Sabrina MacKerell's Reviews > Thirst

Thirst by Varsha Bijaj is a novel set in the slums of Mumbai, where water is scarce and people have to wait in long lines with buckets, bowls, and pots to fill up water from the sputtering spout each day. After collecting their water, it needs to be boiled to remove contaminants. With weak monsoon seasons and water thieves, there are more severe water shortages than ever before. Yet, just a few blocks over are families in high rises that have unlimited fresh tap water and swimming pools. The story centers around a 12 year old girl named Minni who has to juggle between school, work, and family troubles.
I found this book from the Global Read Aloud List and it has been nominated for countless awards such as the South Asian Book Award, Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee, and Nerdy Book Club. I read an audiobook version on Libby, which I highly recommend as the narrator was engaging and Indian as well, which made the experience feel more authentic.
The characters and storyline instantly drew me in. Each time a chapter ended, I wanted to know what happened next. In many ways, this is a coming of age story for Minni as we see her character grow and change as she faces new challenges and is forced to grow up too quickly. She is a protagonist that you can connect with, but also learn from. The secondary characters were also interesting and included their own character development without crowding the plot. Additionally, the author utilized compelling descriptive imagery and it was easy to create a mental image of what was happening in the story.
Many cultural elements are weaved throughout the book and I learned a lot about what life looked like for people living in the slums of Mambai. One thing that stuck out to me was the strong knit community and how people took care of each other, during hard times and good times. Bajaj touches on the intersection of poverty, generational wealth, and race. This book brings awareness to the water crisis and social justice. The story also includes strong themes of friendship and family and power and greed.
This novel is best for middle school students, as they will be able to connect with some similar struggles of being a 12 year old like Minni. However, this book is also a great starting point for discussions on water scarcity, power and greed, the power of education, and how to seek social justice. At the end of the book, the author’s note includes facts about the water crisis. Students can do a research project accompanying this book to learn about these real issues that plague many people’s lives. This was a very powerful read and I can’t recommend it enough. “Water is life. Like life, it’s always changing.”