The son of an Irish soldier, Kim doesn't really fit in with the other residents of his native Lahore or among India's British transplants. The 13-year-old orphan struggles to find an identity for himself, while living hand-to-mouth in the streets. When he's befriended by a Tibetan monk, Kim becomes the elderly lama's disciple and joins the quest to locate the sacred River of the Arrow. But Kim's adventures are only just beginning. Along the way, he's recruited to carry a secret message for British Intelligence, becoming an agent in "the Great Game" - the 19th-century contest between Russia and the British Empire for control over Central Asia. Kim's torn between the excitement of spying and the freedom of life on the road, and he faces a staggering challenge when his two worlds collide. Nobel Prize-winner Rudyard Kipling's vivid portrait of India during the 1880s recaptures the region's diversity of peoples and cultures in a tale that brims with intrigue and treachery. AGES: 7 to 11 AUTHOR: Nobel Laureate Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936) is best remembered for children's tales such as The Jungle Book as well as his poetry and stories about British soldiers in India, which include "Gunga Din" and The Man Who Would Be King. Kipling was enormously popular at the turn of the 20th century but his reputation declined with the change in attitude toward British imperialism. In recent years Kipling's works have found new acclaim as a vibrant source of literary and cultural history.