3 Review(s)

Rusty’s adventures as a wanderer in the Doon valley and the Garhwal hills The third book in Puffin’s new series of Ruskin Bond’s ever-popular Rusty stories, Rusty and the Leopard takes up the story from where Rusty Runs Away, the second book in the series, ended—and marks Rusty’s rebellious, eventful progression into manhood. We pick up the story with Rusty, having run away from his guardian’s home, trying to define an identity for himself as he lives with the Kapoor family, tutoring their son Kishen and occupying the room on the roof. Soon, he strikes up a close friendship with Kishen and, in the company of Meena Kapoor, begins to come into his own as an individual. Then tragedy strikes—the death of Meena devastates Rusty, and he has no choice but to leave Dehra Dun. Forced into vagrancy for some time, Rusty and Kishen take to the open road, and their adventures accumulate as they tramp through the Doon valley and the Garhwal hills. New friends and acquaintances replace old ones in Rusty’s life—instead of the loyal and supportive Ranbir and Somi there is now the mute Goonga, the roadside vendor Devinder, the rakish Sudheer and of course Kishen, who like Rusty is rootless and headed for an unknown destination. His time on the road allows Rusty to decide what he really wants to do in life—and by the end of the book he is preparing for a trip to London, with dreams of becoming a writer. Rusty and the Leopard includes modified versions of the two most famous Rusty novels— The Room on the Roof and Vagrants in the Valley. Full of incident as well as introspection, this is a book older children will thoroughly enjoy. This is Ruskin Bond’s twenty-fifth book with Penguin