A Long Way Home

Saroo BrierleyNonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2013

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Introduction

Teacher Introduction

A Long Way Home

Genre: Nonfiction; memoir/ autobiography
Originally Published: 2013
Reading Level/Interest: Grades 10-12; college/adult
Structure/Length: 13 chapters, prologue, epilogue; approximately 288 pages; approximately 7 hours, 28 minutes on audio
Central Concern: Saroo Brierley’s memoir A Long Way Home recounts his remarkable journey from being lost at a train station in India at the age of five, to being adopted by an Australian couple, to his search for and reunion with his biological family 25 years later. Using sparse memories and Google Earth, Brierley pieces together his past, navigating through the challenges of memory, identity, and belonging. The book explores resilience, the complexity of family ties, and the deep-seated need to know one’s roots.
Potential Sensitivity Issues: Discussions of poverty and hardships in India; adoption; racism; emotional distress of a lost child; sexual exploitation; key figures who are unhoused; human trafficking; immigration; domestic abuse; abandonment and longing

Saroo Brierley, Author

Bio: Born 1981 in Khandwa, India; lost and separated from his family at age five; adopted by an Australian couple; later found his biological family, a story represented in the major motion picture Lion

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Guide: