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A review by karrama
The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon
5.0
This book will rip you apart, but we knew it needed to happen. The Australian internment is only one part of a larger refugee crisis, and someone needed to tell this story. Some day, I hope one of the children born in an Australian detention center will be able to tell stories for his or herself.It's a book to preview before giving to the middle-grade reader for whom it was intended. There are terrible things in here, but like the Boy in the Striped Pajamas, the story needed to be told.
Subhi is told that tents aren't home; that this isn't food anyone would choose to eat; that there are other ways to live. He doesn't know that, though, since he's always been here. His lot is a terrible one that becomes worse.
The other main character is Jimmie. She's lost her mother, but has a notebook in which her mother's voice can be heard, if only she could read. Subhi can help her. Together they find a special kind of freedom in Jimmie's mother's stories.
Subhi is told that tents aren't home; that this isn't food anyone would choose to eat; that there are other ways to live. He doesn't know that, though, since he's always been here. His lot is a terrible one that becomes worse.
The other main character is Jimmie. She's lost her mother, but has a notebook in which her mother's voice can be heard, if only she could read. Subhi can help her. Together they find a special kind of freedom in Jimmie's mother's stories.