The Rainbow Troops

The Indonesian record-breaking bestseller, in the tradition of Slumdog Millionaire and Shantaram. Ikal is a student at Muhammadiyah Elementary, on the Indonesian island of Belitong, where graduating from sixth grade is considered a signal achievement. His school is under constant threat of closure. In fact, Ikal and his friends - a group called the Rainbow Troops - face threats from every angle: pessimistic, corrupt government officials; greedy corporations hardly distinguishable from...
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The Indonesian record-breaking bestseller, in the tradition of Slumdog Millionaire and Shantaram. Ikal is a student at Muhammadiyah Elementary, on the Indonesian island of Belitong, where graduating from sixth grade is considered a signal achievement. His school is under constant threat of closure. In fact, Ikal and his friends - a group called the Rainbow Troops - face threats from every angle: pessimistic, corrupt government officials; greedy corporations hardly distinguishable from the colonialism they've replaced; deepening poverty and crumbling infrastructure; and their own festering self-confidence. But in the form of two extraordinary teachers, they also have hope, and Ikal's education is an uplifting one, in and out of the classroom. We cheer for him and his friends as they defy the town's powerful tin miners. We meet his first love, a hand with half-moon fingernails that passes him the chalk his teacher sent him to buy. We cheer for Lintang, the class's barefoot maths genius, as he bests the rich company children in an academic challenge. Published in 2005 in Indonesia, The Rainbow Troops went on to sell over 5 million copies. Now it is set to captivate readers across the globe. This is classic story-telling: an engrossing depiction of a world we have not encountered before, bursting with charm and verve.