You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
In many ways, this book shares a lot of the structure and themes of a lot of contemporary YA novels. It asks questions like: Are my parents as awful as I think? Is it all that important to impress popular people who aren't nice? To what extent should you stand up for your beliefs? Will your lies catch up with you? Nona & Me is a good example of fiction that asks these questions and encourages young readers to be ethical, and to be themselves.
But what makes this novel remarkable is the specific political and cultural situation it deals with. It is set in the remote Aboriginal community of Yirrkala, in north-east Arnhem Land in 2007. The community is close to a mining town during the boom time, the Howard government declared a state of emergency and started the controversial Northern Territory Intervention which deprived Aboriginal people of rights, apparently to address the problem of child abuse. It was also the year that Kevin Rudd was elected as Prime Minister, who in early 2008 apologised to the Aboriginal people of Australia for the stolen generations of children who were forcibly taken from their families by governments during most of the twentieth century.
Rosie, the main character, is vaguely aware of this context as a white girl who lives in Yirrkala, but isn't fully engaged with the issues. Her parents both are, and she is accepted into the community as family, but spending time in town for school and her social life, she experiences distance as she gets older. She distances herself from the community partly in trying to appear cool to her friends/frenemies, in pursuing a relationship with an older boy with pretty racist views, and because her best friend and primary tether to the community, Nona, moved away.
But when Nona comes back, the community ties aren't automatically strengthened. Instead, there's awkwardness for Rosie - competing values, mistakes, grief.
This is an important story for young adults in Australia to learn about the complexities of Aboriginal life and culture, and the damage of racism. It dispels ignorance in ways that aren't always elegant (for instance, some of the characters seem a bit two-dimensional, particularly evident in the dialogue) but nonetheless get to the heart of some of the more damaging beliefs that reinforce disadvantage.
However, readers must be mindful that the book only details one of many stories which speak to these themes. After all, it's told through the eyes of a white girl, and while she has unique access to Yirrkala, she is alienated from it, partly through her own making.
But what makes this novel remarkable is the specific political and cultural situation it deals with. It is set in the remote Aboriginal community of Yirrkala, in north-east Arnhem Land in 2007. The community is close to a mining town during the boom time, the Howard government declared a state of emergency and started the controversial Northern Territory Intervention which deprived Aboriginal people of rights, apparently to address the problem of child abuse. It was also the year that Kevin Rudd was elected as Prime Minister, who in early 2008 apologised to the Aboriginal people of Australia for the stolen generations of children who were forcibly taken from their families by governments during most of the twentieth century.
Rosie, the main character, is vaguely aware of this context as a white girl who lives in Yirrkala, but isn't fully engaged with the issues. Her parents both are, and she is accepted into the community as family, but spending time in town for school and her social life, she experiences distance as she gets older. She distances herself from the community partly in trying to appear cool to her friends/frenemies, in pursuing a relationship with an older boy with pretty racist views, and because her best friend and primary tether to the community, Nona, moved away.
But when Nona comes back, the community ties aren't automatically strengthened. Instead, there's awkwardness for Rosie - competing values, mistakes, grief.
This is an important story for young adults in Australia to learn about the complexities of Aboriginal life and culture, and the damage of racism. It dispels ignorance in ways that aren't always elegant (for instance, some of the characters seem a bit two-dimensional, particularly evident in the dialogue) but nonetheless get to the heart of some of the more damaging beliefs that reinforce disadvantage.
However, readers must be mindful that the book only details one of many stories which speak to these themes. After all, it's told through the eyes of a white girl, and while she has unique access to Yirrkala, she is alienated from it, partly through her own making.
Such a warm and vivid look at friendship and community. I loved it.
Wow. This book was...kind of brutal? I mean, it was pretty amazing and packed with feels. But it's still a kick in the teeth. The story is set in a remote town in Arnhem Land, and fifteen year old Rosie hates the fact that she and her mum don't live in town where she can see her friends whenever she wants. Instead, they live out at the community where her mum works, and she has to catch the bus to school every day.
Rosie's a typical fifteen year old, making typical fifteen year old decisions. She cracks the sads at her parents for very little reason, is infatuated with her best friend's older brother, and lies about where she's going to be so that she can go to parties and drink. And she really hates the fact that she and her family were adopted by a Yolngu family, creating kinship ties. She loved it as a kid, and she adored her Yolngu sister, Nona. But Nona moved away and everything changed. When Nona returns, however, Rosie's two worlds collide, and the fallout is pretty awful to read about.
There's a lot of racism to deal with, which is gut-wrenching, and I appreciate the fact that Atkins added in Nick's Southern Cross tattoo so that the reader knew from the get-go just where his character was going to end up (seriously, people. Nothing screams "I'm a bogan with racist tendencies" more than a Southern Cross tattoo...). I loved that it was set in 2007, and that politics played such a huge part in the story. While Canberra may be a million miles away from Arnhem Land, it's the decisions of the Howard government, and the Intervention that bring tensions between the Yolngu and mining communities to a head.
I love that so much of the story is effectively about the power of the word "sorry", that it's all leading towards the Apology, and that Rosie learns just how much that word means. I love that she learns what family and friendship really is, that she learns to embrace the two halves of her identity. And I love how well researched everything was, how fabulously Yolngu culture is described.
That said, I do kind of wish we'd had at least part of the story from Nona's perspective, so that we could see her reactions and her feelings to certain events. Because even though it's a very diverse story, it's still told exclusively from a white perspective, and I wish we could have seen the Yolngu perspective on the same events.
Rosie's a typical fifteen year old, making typical fifteen year old decisions. She cracks the sads at her parents for very little reason, is infatuated with her best friend's older brother, and lies about where she's going to be so that she can go to parties and drink. And she really hates the fact that she and her family were adopted by a Yolngu family, creating kinship ties. She loved it as a kid, and she adored her Yolngu sister, Nona. But Nona moved away and everything changed. When Nona returns, however, Rosie's two worlds collide, and the fallout is pretty awful to read about.
There's a lot of racism to deal with, which is gut-wrenching, and I appreciate the fact that Atkins added in Nick's Southern Cross tattoo so that the reader knew from the get-go just where his character was going to end up (seriously, people. Nothing screams "I'm a bogan with racist tendencies" more than a Southern Cross tattoo...). I loved that it was set in 2007, and that politics played such a huge part in the story. While Canberra may be a million miles away from Arnhem Land, it's the decisions of the Howard government, and the Intervention that bring tensions between the Yolngu and mining communities to a head.
I love that so much of the story is effectively about the power of the word "sorry", that it's all leading towards the Apology, and that Rosie learns just how much that word means. I love that she learns what family and friendship really is, that she learns to embrace the two halves of her identity. And I love how well researched everything was, how fabulously Yolngu culture is described.
That said, I do kind of wish we'd had at least part of the story from Nona's perspective, so that we could see her reactions and her feelings to certain events. Because even though it's a very diverse story, it's still told exclusively from a white perspective, and I wish we could have seen the Yolngu perspective on the same events.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is aimed at mid-teens and I read it as a potential text for teaching in 2016. By the end of the first 50 pages I was designing a whole unit around it.
The story is about two girls who are sisters in the Yolngu kinship sisters told from the perspective of Rosie. There is your usual teens stuff peer pressure, popularity, boyfriends, but behind it is a story of lost identity and indigenous culture. Rosie, when she was little, was involved in Yolngu life, but after the departure of Nona floated into a Western lifestyle and is trying to find a way to live in both.
The novel jumps between 2 time periods: 1999-2001, and 2007-2008, which means it also covers some important contemporary moments in indigenous history, leading to some great teaching points.
For any Catholic school teachers, this is a teen novel with no sex in it (though there is some deliberation on the topic) so it will be suitable. Apparently there are also teaching notes available.
Overall it was a beautifully written novel with a lot of depth.
The story is about two girls who are sisters in the Yolngu kinship sisters told from the perspective of Rosie. There is your usual teens stuff peer pressure, popularity, boyfriends, but behind it is a story of lost identity and indigenous culture. Rosie, when she was little, was involved in Yolngu life, but after the departure of Nona floated into a Western lifestyle and is trying to find a way to live in both.
The novel jumps between 2 time periods: 1999-2001, and 2007-2008, which means it also covers some important contemporary moments in indigenous history, leading to some great teaching points.
For any Catholic school teachers, this is a teen novel with no sex in it (though there is some deliberation on the topic) so it will be suitable. Apparently there are also teaching notes available.
Overall it was a beautifully written novel with a lot of depth.
one of the only good reading decisions 13 year old me made
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have read this book so many times, I absolutely love the story and the message it conveys. I have taken it everywhere, the pages are all worn and dirty. I would 100% recommend to anyone looking for a book regarding racism and stereotypes surrounding racism.