Small Acts of Amazing Courage

Rosalind wonders again and again, “How can kindness get you into so much trouble?”

Her father is away at war, and her mother is sick, so Rosalind is left on her own. Well, not exactly her own. There are always plenty of servants around her house in British India. She gets rather tired of hanging around the house, so she ventures into the strange and colorful bazaars of the village.

And it’s those ventures that get her into trouble. She hears of Gandhi and of the talk of a free India. She sees the poverty and decides she has to do something.

That something lands her in a heap of trouble, and the next ship to England to get a proper education.

But those small acts of amazing courage, the kindness shown where none had previously been – they not only change her life, but the life of her aunts in England.

Small Acts of Amazing Courage by Gloria Whelan, one of my favorite authors, teaches respect – respect for authority, respect for yourself, and respect for life, and ways the tension that can arise between them.

Recommended for ages 10 and up.