Slumgirl Dreaming: Rubina's Journey to the Stars [Paperback]

Rubina Ali (Author), Anne Berthod (Author), Divya Dugar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 8, 2009 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

My name is Rubina Ali. I don't know when my birthday is, and nor does my father, but I do know that I am nine years old.

Young Rubina is a one-in-a-million star. Plucked from among five hundred slumkids who auditioned for Danny Boyle's multi-Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire, she saw her fairy-tale dream of stardom come true. Now that she has stepped into the limelight, what will life hold for a young girl from the Mumbai slums?

Rubina tells her own incredible story, bringing to life a world of wastelands and rat-infested shanty dwellings, where she played marbles with her friends beside the sewers of Garib Nagar. She introduces her beloved father, a hardworking rickshaw puller, and her siblings. And then Rubina tells of the kindness of Danny Boyle and of the time she spent on the film sets--including the hilarious incident when her costar came to be covered in chocolate from head to toe.

After her brief encounter with red-carpet glamour, how will Rubina come to terms with the conditions in which she, her family, and her friends continue to live since Hollywood came knocking? This is her compelling story.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Interview, People Magazine, September 21, 2009:
"Still living in Mumbai's slums after her taste of Hollywood, Rubina Ali, 9, has come out with a memoir."

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (September 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385739087
• ISBN-13: 978-0385739085
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.5 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #690,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Arts & Music > Performing Arts > Film
  • #63 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Biographies > Performing Arts
  • #74 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Social Issues > Homelessness & Poverty

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, October 14, 2010

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Slumgirl Dreaming: Rubina's Journey to the Stars (Paperback)

Did you see the movie Slumdog Millionaire? Depending on your age, maybe not as it's a rated "R" film. But it did win the Oscar for Best Movie in 2008. One of the actresses in the movie was Rubina Ali, an 8-year-old girl born in the slums of India.

SLUMGIRL DREAMING tells Rubina's exciting story from the auditions for Slumdog Millionaire through the crazy time of the Oscars. Rubina shares her positive attitude and her amazement at the world around her. Rubina lives in a one-room shack built from whatever they could find- sheet metal, wooden planks, plastic, anything - in the Bandra East slums. Her house has no plumbing, no running water, and no bathroom. Nor does it belong to her family. It's on government land. They do have electricity, and a television is their only real extravagance. The streets outside are covered in litter and excrement. It's not a very safe or healthy place to live, but it's all she knows.

One day, a neighbor asked Rubina if she wanted to audition for a movie. Rubina loved television and wanted to be a star and could think of nothing better. Against 500 other Indian children, Rubina won the role of the young Latika. Though it was only a month of filming, it was all Rubina needed to know acting was what she wanted.

Through her role from Slumdog Millionaire, Rubina got to travel to other parts of India (she had never ventured very far from her slum until then) and even flew on a plane to attend the Oscars in Hollywood. Rubina became famous in her slum. But after her travels and staying in hotels that had bathrooms and - more importantly to Rubina, pools! - she had a hard time returning to her squalid living conditions.

Told in such an innocent voice, SLUMGIRL DREAMING was an amazing look at life in a land totally different from what is known in America. Even in our poor neighborhoods, life is never as bleak as it is for Rubina on a daily basis. Rubina and those around her live in conditions that one would think stopped existing in the Middle Ages. Reading Rubina's struggle to achieve her dreams at such an early age and under such circumstances is very inspiring and heartwarming.

Reviewed by: Jaglvr