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A review by lawbooks600
Sister Heart by Sally Morgan
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Representation: First Australian characters
Score: Seven points out of ten.
Well. I remember searching this up and then seeing it in one of the two libraries I go to and after seeing positive ratings and reviews I finally picked it up and read it. When I finished it, the only way I could describe my experience reading this story was that I was gutted. It was an informative but heartbreaking read from start to finish complemented by the uncommon writing style. Now then. It starts with the main character who initially doesn't have a first or last name (it's not clear how old she is either) living her life somewhere in Australia until someone displaced her and took her somewhere else in an event now called the Stolen Generations. Did I mention this novel is all written in poetry but the execution is better than some other poetry novels I've read, and it deals with the topic better than another story I saw previously called Our Race for Reconciliation by Anita Heiss? The unnamed girl then goes to a school whose name I forgot with a teacher that called her Anne (hey that name sounds familiar) where she stays for the rest of the narrative.
Not long after Anne as I'll call her from now on (that name will change soon enough) is introduced to some new characters (some of them I liked, like Janey. Some I did not.) I'm not sure why when the teacher tried to teach Anne English she didn't like it only because she said it tried to erase her culture or something along those lines (hasn't she heard of bilingualism? She could use that.) I had a hunch that something heartrending would happen. The last few pages were the saddest as the government abused Anne, Janey was hospitalised for an illness (the book said it was influenza) and later died while Anne, now called Annie hopes that she would be free one day ending the book on a devastating note. It's an imperative read, sure. But it's heavy. I don't know why the library I got this book from placed it in nonfiction. Not realistic. Not historical. Nonfiction.
Score: Seven points out of ten.
Well. I remember searching this up and then seeing it in one of the two libraries I go to and after seeing positive ratings and reviews I finally picked it up and read it. When I finished it, the only way I could describe my experience reading this story was that I was gutted. It was an informative but heartbreaking read from start to finish complemented by the uncommon writing style. Now then. It starts with the main character who initially doesn't have a first or last name (it's not clear how old she is either) living her life somewhere in Australia until someone displaced her and took her somewhere else in an event now called the Stolen Generations. Did I mention this novel is all written in poetry but the execution is better than some other poetry novels I've read, and it deals with the topic better than another story I saw previously called Our Race for Reconciliation by Anita Heiss? The unnamed girl then goes to a school whose name I forgot with a teacher that called her Anne (hey that name sounds familiar) where she stays for the rest of the narrative.
Not long after Anne as I'll call her from now on (that name will change soon enough) is introduced to some new characters (some of them I liked, like Janey. Some I did not.) I'm not sure why when the teacher tried to teach Anne English she didn't like it only because she said it tried to erase her culture or something along those lines (hasn't she heard of bilingualism? She could use that.) I had a hunch that something heartrending would happen. The last few pages were the saddest as the government abused Anne, Janey was hospitalised for an illness (the book said it was influenza) and later died while Anne, now called Annie hopes that she would be free one day ending the book on a devastating note. It's an imperative read, sure. But it's heavy. I don't know why the library I got this book from placed it in nonfiction. Not realistic. Not historical. Nonfiction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Child abuse, Death, and Chronic illness
Full trigger warnings: Displacement, death of a child and friend from an illness, blood, grief and loss depiction, physical assault and injury, child abuse, hospitalisation