When ten-year-old Hastin’s younger sister becomes ill and his mother must borrow money for her care, the only way to pay off that debt is for his mother to leave her family and become an indentured servant to an indifferent rich family. Rather than having his kindly mother suffer this indignity, Hastin agrees to become an assistant elephant keeper for a circus master, but he must travel far away and leave his family for many years in order to free his mother. But while Hastin doesn’t know what to expect from this position, he is not prepared at all for the difficulties he encounters. The circus owner is cruel, malicious, and money-hungry, and Hastin is forced to trap and ensnare a kindly young elephant that he names Nandita. Even worse, the head elephant trainer savagely beats the elephant in an attempt to ‘teach’ her, and Hastin’s term of service keeps getting extended on the circus owner’s whims. Yet Hastin also encounters kindness–from Ne Min, the cook with a difficult past who becomes a mentor of sorts, and from Nandita herself. But when Nandita’s future becomes more endangered than ever, Hastin must craft a plan to save both himself and his friend.

In her debut novel, Lynne Kelly has crafted a beautiful book that tugs at the heartstrings while simultaneously spinning a marvelous plot. Hastin is a strong hero whose love for his family, including Nandita, who becomes both a best friend and a sister of sorts, shines through. This is a story about sacrifice, bravery, and compassion, but most of all about friendship. About how human/animal friendships can often be the strongest of all, and how Hastin and Nandita help each other, even as both are suffering themselves. It is also nice to see a friendship that crosses generations in the bond between Hastin and Ne Min, and the character development of Ne Min, along with the revelations about his past, is well-paced and realistic. Chained is a lovely and touching story that will find a home in public, home, and school libraries.

Readers looking to find more sensitively drawn, multicultural works like Chained should seek out Mitali Perkins’ Bamboo Summer and works by Linda Sue Park.

Disclosure: Review copy provided by publisher (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) for review.