Searching for the Songbird

Kastura, ‘the Songbird’, has disappeared. She is the prime suspect of a burglary in the Himalayan foothills, and twelve-year Johnny Raut is determined to find her and prove her innocence. The problem is that he has just moved to the mountains from Mumbai, and knows almost nothing about his new surroundings. While coping also with his parents’ separation, he joins forces with three of his classmates and sets out to find the missing Songbird.

As Johnny solves the mystery of her disappearance, he must also come to terms with his own fears, understand the social prejudices that affect people close to him, and become familiar with the songs and sounds of this alien environment. 

“Searching for the Songbird is an exciting mystery for younger readers with a number of provocative themes wrapped up inside a compelling thriller about a puzzling disappearance.“
— Stephen Alter, author of several award-winning works of fiction and non-fiction, including Birdwatching: A Novel

“The serenity of the hills juxtaposed with the unsettling realities of crime and social conditions. An exciting read.“
— Paro Anand, award-winning author and a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puruskar for her anthology Wild Child and Other Stories 

RAVINA AGGARWAL is an anthropologist who has written extensively about the Himalayas. Her  publications include Beyond Lines of Control: Performance and Politics on the Disputed Borders of Ladakh, India and two edited volumes, Into the High Ranges: The Penguin Book of Mountain Writing and Forsaking Paradise: Short Stories from Ladakh. She was a tenured  professor at Smith College, Massachusetts, and has worked for the Ford Foundation in New  Delhi, before assuming her current position as the director of Columbia University’s Global Center in Mumbai.