Neela: Victory Song is a book in the Girls of Many Lands series focusing on Neela Sen. It was released in 2002 and available with the doll and as a separate purchase. The book was retired with the collection in 2005. Retail cost was $7.95.
Characters[]
- See Characters in Neela: Victory Song
Chapter by Chapter Summary[]
Chapter One: Wedding Preparations[]
Chapter Two: Bandits![]
Chapter Three: Good-Byes[]
Chapter Four: The Secret Guest[]
Chapter Five: Bad News[]
Chapter Six: Alone in a City of Strangers[]
Chapter Seven: A Desperate Search[]
Chapter Eight: A Daring Plan[]
Chapter Nine: The Rescue Mission[]
Chapter Ten: Unsuspected Obstacles[]
Then and Now: India[]
Discusses a girl's life in India. Topics include:
- Details about how Indian life had continued even though World War Two had recently erupted in Europe.
- The region of Bengal and traditional housing.
- How Hindu marriages were arranged and what a bride was expected to do after the wedding.
- Why Neela would wear a sari and a bindi to the wedding.
- What a wedding 'dowry was made up of and who it was given to.
- How the British arrived in and occupied India and how they lived.
- Freedom fights and protesters.
- What Gandhi believed in and his boycotts.
- How the British handled the protesters.
- India receiving its independence in 1947, and the popular song Vande Mataram.
- Gandhi's influence on Martin Luther King Jr.
- Life in India today.
Extras[]
Each Girls of Many Lands book came with a detachable bookmark inside the back cover. This shows a portion of the illustration at the start of the book. Measures 7 3/16" x 2".
The bookmark for Neela: Victory Song.
The bookmark's reverse side.
Trivia[]
The international cover.
- Neela: Victory Song is the only book in the Girls of Many Lands series written in third person.
- The book was later released by Penguin Books and offered for sale in India.
Items Associated with Neela: Victory Song[]
- Neela Sen doll