5 To 1: a book review, and an upcoming event at the Carlingwood Library

Special to KT by Bella Crysler – 

It’s the year 2054, and Sudasa, a young women living the life of luxury within the solid walls of Koyanager, India, should be glad she was born a girl. The ratio of boys to girls in India has reached five to one, and outside the walls of Koyanager, families want a working child, a strong child who can help support their families.

They want a boy.

Girls are discarded, unwanted, and left for dead, but in the state Sudasa lives in the tables have been turned. Boys are now the ones deemed worthless, and women treasured and sought after. Boys must compete in tests created by the women in charge in order to win not only a wife, but a life. And only the girls they are fighting for have the power to guarantee their futures, or end them.

Koyanager’s system and rules were made to facilitate change, but is it for the better? Is it even change at all? As the time comes for Sudasa to find her own husband, she begins to ask herself these questions. And as she, and Kiran, a boy competing for her hand and seeking a way out of Koyanager, learn more and more, the cracks in Koyanager’s seemingly flawless foundation begin to show. Will Sudasa turn a blind eye to Koyanager’s dirty secrets and painful truths, or will she and Kiran make an alliance for the better?

Holly Bodger’s debut novel, 5 To 1, does not disappoint, and it marks the start of promising and exciting writing career. Come to the Carlingwood branch of the Ottawa Public Library on Tuesday, October 13, for fun and casual conversation about 5 to 1, meet the mind behind this fantastic book, and maybe gain some writing tips too! I greatly enjoyed reading 5 to 1, (it rocks!), and I know you will too. See you on the 13th!

Event: Teen Author Fest presents Holly Bodger
Where: Carlingwood Library, 281 Woodroffe Ave.
When: Tuesday October 13,  5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Cost: Free

Bella Crysler is a grade nine student at Nepean High School.

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