Crowley County Combined Library

Annawadi is a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport, and as India starts to prosper, Annawadians are electric with hope. Abdul, a reflective and enterprising Muslim teenager, sees "a fortune beyond counting" in the recyclable garbage that richer people throw away. Asha, a woman of formidable wit and deep scars from a childhood in rural poverty, has identified an alternate route to the middle class: political corruption....

"India is a nation both ancient and modern. Founded in 1947, its history dates back 4,000 years. The majority of India's workforce is comprised of farmers; yet its overall economic growth stands among the world's greatest. While its traditionalist society disenfranchises parts of the population, it has successfully carried out the largest free elections in the world. Seven hundred active languages and over one billion people characterize the Republic...