80 pages • 2 hours read
The Bridge Home
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Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
CHAPTERS 1-6
Reading Check
1. What is “one of the few things” in which Viji had faith?
2. Why is Amma scared to take Rukku to a hospital?
3. Despite the weight of their luggage, what item does Viji bring to the city?
4. Who tries to abduct Viji and Rukku when they enter the city?
5. How do Viji and Rukku finally manage to cross the busy street?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What does Celina Aunty encourage Viji to do? How does she respond to the advice?
2. Describe Viji and Rukku’s family. What were some of the problems that her parents faced as a couple?
3. What suggestion does Viji pose to her mother? How does her mother respond to this proposition?
4. Why does Viji make the decision to leave her home? Describe their journey into the city.
5. Describe how Viji and Rukku find their first job. What are the conditions of their work?
Paired Resources
- This scholarly article from Pew Research Center offers information regarding the caste system in India. (Teacher-appropriate; not student-facing due to complexity and length.)
- This information connects with the themes of The Presence of God in the Face of Suffering, The Creativity and Resourcefulness of People Experiencing Poverty, Male Domination and Feminine Powerlessness, and The Richness and Beauty of the Insignificant.
“Why the Humble Cow Is India’s Most Polarising Animal”
- This BBC article discusses the perception of the sacred cow in India.
- The content of this article connects to the theme The Presence of God in the Face of Suffering.
- Based on this resource, what role do cows have in Indian society?
CHAPTERS 7-12
Reading Check
1. Who is Kutti?
2. How does Viji help Rukku fall asleep?
3. What clothing item does Teashop Aunty give Viji?
4. What happens to Viji’s coin purse with the remainder of the money?
5. What does Viji realize while eating the orange with Rukku?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Where do Viji and Rukku take shelter on their first night in the city? Who do they meet there and how do they spend their first night?
2. Why do Viji and Rukku return to the teashop from the previous day? Summarize the outcome of their visit.
3. What are some of the difficulties that Viji and Rukku experience as they search for work? How do people respond to them?
4. Summarize the sisters’ second night at the bridge. Does Viji feel like she and her sister are welcome there?
Paired Resources
“5 Facts About Child Homelessness in India”
- The Borgen Project lists key facts regarding unhoused children in India.
- This information connects with the themes The Creativity and Resourcefulness of People Experiencing Poverty and The Richness and Beauty of the Insignificant.
- Based on the text as well as the above resource, what are some of the reasons that cause children to be unhoused in India?
- This trailer previews director Garth Davis’s film, which is based on Saroo Brierley’s 2013 nonfiction book A Long Way Home. It explores an unhoused child’s journey from his life in India to his adoption by an Australian couple.
- This story shares the themes The Presence of God in the Face of Suffering, The Creativity and Resourcefulness of People Experiencing Poverty, and The Richness and Beauty of the Insignificant.
- Compare and contrast the experiences of Saroo and Viji as unhoused children.
CHAPTERS 13-20
1. Why does Viji initially wait outside with Rukku and Kutti at the waste dump?
2. What is Viji’s worry concerning school?
3. Which object does Rukku set her heart on buying while at the beach?
4. What realization does Viji have concerning Arul’s religious beliefs?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Describe Viji and Rukku’s experience at the waste mart. What type of work do they do there?
2. Summarize Arul and Muthu’s rule regarding their earnings from the waste dump. How do Viji and Rukku spend their first income?
3. Summarize Rukku’s transition into a “businesswoman.” What does she sell? What does the group do with the earnings?
4. What decision does the group make regarding how to find income? What is one effect of their choice?
Paired Resources
“24 Hours Through the Eyes of a Child Scavenger in India”
- This 2021 Associated Press article on child poverty in India includes photos.
- The content of this article connects with the themes The Creativity and Resourcefulness of People Experiencing Poverty and The Richness and Beauty of the Insignificant.
- What are some of the struggles that children who work at the waste dumps face? How are these reflected in the novel?
- This encyclopedia entry provides an overview of the former prime minister of India.
- This information connects with the theme Male Domination and Feminine Powerlessness.
- Who was Indira Gandhi and how did she influence India’s perception of gender in politics?
CHAPTERS 21-33
Reading Check
1. What type of event results in a feast of wasted leftovers for the children?
2. Why do the children go to a church?
3. What information does Teashop Aunty tell Viji and Rukku?
4. What phrase does Muthu use to refer to how God sees humanity?
5. What medical item do the children decide they need for their new residence?
6. How does Viji raise the money for the necessary medication?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why do the children suddenly leave their home next to the bridge? Where do they seek shelter next?
2. Describe the destruction of the children’s living quarters. What items are ruined and which are saved?
3. Who is Celina Aunty? Where do the children meet her and what does she offer them?
4. Describe the children’s interaction with Praba. What items are exchanged between the two groups of people?
5. Why does Viji want to visit Celina Aunty? How does Muthu respond to this?
Paired Resources
- This National Geographic Kids article summarizes the Indian festival.
- The information in this resource connects with the theme The Creativity and Resourcefulness of People Experiencing Poverty.
- What is the significance of the Diwali holiday in India?
“Monsoon”
- This article from National Geographic Education offers information on the monsoon season.
- This resource connects with the theme The Creativity and Resourcefulness of People Experiencing Poverty.
- How does the monsoon season affect communities on the Indian subcontinent, particularly those who are impoverished? What connections do you see in the novel?
CHAPTER 34-AUTHOR’S NOTE
Reading Check
1. What type of fever does Dr. Sumitra believe that Muthu and Rukku suffer from?
2. How does Arul feel about the days he was separated from Muthu, Rukku, and Viji?
3. According to Celina Aunty, which two words have only one letter difference between them?
4. What realization does Viji have in the last chapter?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Summarize the circumstances surrounding Rukku’s death. How do the children respond to the sudden loss of her presence?
2. Where does Celina Aunty bring Viji? How does Viji respond to this visit?
3. How does Rukku guide Viji’s decisions at the end of the novel? Identify two major choices she makes based on what she believes Rukku would have wanted for her.
Recommended Next Reads
Climbing the Stairs by Padma Venkatraman
- Venkatraman’s 2008 young adult novel follows female protagonist Vidya as she navigates life in politically unstable India.
- Shared themes include The Presence of God in the Face of Suffering and Male Domination and Feminine Powerlessness.
- Shared elements include female protagonists, India as a setting, and challenging childhood experiences.
- Climbing the Stairs on SuperSummary
Iqbal by Francesco D’Adamo
- D’Adamo’s 2001 novel offers a fictional account of Iqbal Masih’s protest movement of Iqbal against child slavery in Pakistan.
- Shared themes include The Creativity and Resourcefulness of People Experiencing Poverty, Male Domination and Feminine Powerlessness, and The Richness and Beauty of the Insignificant.
- Shared elements include difficult childhood experiences, the setting of the Indian subcontinent, and child slavery.
- Iqbal on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
CHAPTERS 1-6
Reading Check
1. “Our togetherness” (Chapter 1)
2. Amma is afraid that Rukku might be locked “away in a mental institution.” (Chapter 2)
3. “[T]he book from Parvathi Teacher” (Chapter 3)
4. The bus driver (Chapter 5)
5. A cow (Chapter 5)
Short Answer
1. Celina Aunty encourages Viji to write to Rukku. Although Viji is skeptical in writing her sister a letter, Celina Aunty is sure that her words “will reach her.” (Note: The reader learns later that Viji is skeptical to write to her sister because her sister has since passed away.) (Chapter 1)
2. Viji and Rukku live with their mother and abusive father. Viji and Rukku’s mother (“Amma”) married into a lower caste, ultimately causing the extended family to stop talking to her out of shame. (Chapter 2)
3. After Amma breaks her arms in an encounter with her abusive husband, Viji suggests that they leave home; however, Amma reminds Viji that it is unlikely that an uneducated woman would find employment. To Amma, it is more sensible to stay quiet and endure their situation. (Chapter 3)
4. Viji makes the decision to leave home because was Amma is too complacent to keep Rukku safe from abusive Appa; to Viji, she will have a better chance of protecting her sister if they escape. They sneak out early in the morning with Viji’s birthday money and catch a bus to the city. (Chapters 3-4)
5. After Rukku accidentally drops a glass at a tea vendor, Viji offers to do work in the kitchen to pay off the debt. In the kitchen, the vendor’s wife looks after them, and gives the girls bananas and vadais before they leave. (Chapter 6)
CHAPTERS 7-12
Reading Check
1. A stray puppy that Rukku “adopts” (Chapter 7)
2. Viji tells Rukku a bedtime story. (Chapter 8)
3. Her daughter’s raincoat (Chapter 10)
4. A young, unhoused girl steals it. (Chapter 10)
5. “[T]hat slow can be better than fast” (Chapter 11)
Short Answer
1. After walking for some time, Viji, Rukku, and Kutti decide to spend the night under a bridge. They meet Muthu and Arul, two boys who sleep under the bridge. After some persuading, Muthu and Arul allow the sisters to sleep there as well. (Chapters 7-8)
2. Viji and Rukku return to the teashop in the hope of employment. Although they are unable to find steady work at the teashop, Teashop Aunty gives them some food, beads, and a raincoat. She also suggests they try one of the wealthier neighborhoods to find work as a maid. (Chapter 10)
3. Viji and Rukku visit the wealthy neighborhood; however, when they enter one of the properties to ask for work, the gardener shoos them away. (Chapter 11)
4. Viji and Rukku return back to the bridge without work; however, they are welcomed by their “bridge-mates” Muthu and Aral, who have found another tent for them. After sharing their food, Viji tells Rukku a bedtime story; Muthu calls Viji “akka.” (Chapter 12)
CHAPTERS 13-20
Reading Check
1. Because the “waste man scared [her]” (Chapter 13)
2. Whether they will be able to attend again (Chapter 15)
3. A green balloon (Chapter 17)
4. Viji realizes that Arul clings to his religious beliefs as a way to maintain connection with the memory of his family. (Chapter 19)
Short Answer
1. Viji and Rukku accompany Muthu and Arul to the waste mart, where the two boys work every day sifting through the waste in order to collect valuable materials. In the end, Viji joins them, while Rukku works outside making jewelry with beads. Rukku later moves inside to help sift through the waste. (Chapters 14-15)
2. Arul and Muthu insist that the group share the earnings equally, even if Viji and Rukku earn less than the boys. The first night with their earnings, they buy biryani, bananas, and sweets for their dinner. (Chapter 15)
3. Rukku becomes a businesswoman when she decides to sell her beaded bracelets in order to earn money for a green balloon at the beach. She sells all but one of her products, and with the earnings she buys her balloon; the group purchases essential supplies with leftover cash. They decide to try and save the extra money for the future. (Chapters 17-18)
4. After deliberating whether to switch their work to jewelry-making, the team decides the safer option would be to go to the “Himalayas” dump again while Rukku makes more jewelry. They run into the same group of boys from the beach dump and engage in a quarrel with them, until the waste man breaks it up. (Chapter 20)
CHAPTERS 21-33
Reading Check
1. A wedding feast (Chapter 23)
2. To “buy a candle to give thanks to God” (Chapter 25)
3. That she (Teashop Aunty) and her husband will be moving out of the city (Chapter 26)
4. “God’s worms” (Chapter 29)
5. Mosquito repellent (Chapter 30)
6. Viji sells Kutti to Praba’s mother. (Chapter 32)
Short Answer
1. After the waste man locates their shelter in the night, the children quickly run away. They seek shelter in a graveyard, where they spend the night. Viji lulls the group to sleep with a bedtime story. (Chapters 21-22)
2. The children return to their home at the bridge to find that most of their belongings, including their tent, has been destroyed. The children are relieved to find that their money is still safely hidden, and Viji still has her prized book. (Chapter 24)
3. Celina Aunty is the director of the Safe Home for Working Children. She meets the children at the church and gives them her business card, offering them the opportunity to stay at her Safe Home so they can eventually study and find employment. (Chapter 25)
4. Hoping to make some money, the children return to the house where the gardener gave them an orange. After he gives them bottles for recycling, the daughter of the house, Praba, along with her mother see the children and ask them for Kutti. After Viji initially replies that he is not for sale, the mother offers them clothing as a “payment” for their recycling efforts. (Chapter 28)
5. As Rukku slowly becomes sicker, Viji toys with the idea of visiting Celina Aunty in order to get her some care. Muthu disagrees immediately, stating that she is most likely trying to obtain children for human trafficking, as he experienced a similar situation when he was sold by his stepbrother into child slavery. (Chapter 30)
CHAPTER 34-EPILOGUE
Reading Check
1. Dengue fever (Chapter 34)
2. “‘I couldn’t stand being away,’ Arul said. ‘I’d rather be locked in with all of you than alone and free.’” (Chapter 36)
3. God and good (Chapter 38)
4. Viji sees that although she thought she played the role of Rukku’s caretaker, it was actually Rukku who taught and guided her: “[A]ll this while, I thought I’d looked after you, but now I see it was often the opposite.” (Chapter 44)
Short Answer
1. After spending time in the hospital, Rukku succumbs to dengue fever and pneumonia. All three of her companions are significantly affected by her death; in particular, Viji loses interest in talking to her peers and Muthu does not joke as much as before. (Chapter 37)
2. Celina Aunty brings Viji to “a school for young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.” She is touched by the visit, and her desire to become a teacher reawakens. (Chapter 40)
3. After writing to her parents, Viji receives a visit from her father, begging her to come home. Although she pities him, she hears Rukku’s voice in her head telling her to stay at the Safe Home. She makes the decision to accept Celina Aunty’s offer to attend boarding school so she may become a teacher. (Chapter 43)
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