Take a photo of a barcode or cover
driedfrogpills 's review for:
The Bone Sparrow
by Zana Fraillon
This is not an easy book by any means, but it is an important book especially as the plight of refugees and asylum seekers dominates national and international politics. I want to put a copy of this in the hands of every adult because even though it's fictional, the setting it depicts is all too real. That we are still capable of doing this to each other in 2017 is kind of mind-boggling.
For all that there is an agenda in the book - educating readers about the Rohingya - The Bone Sparrow does not read like a book with an agenda. Instead, it is the story of the unlikely friendship between Subhi, a refugee born in an Australian detention center, and Jimmie, an Australian girl who struggles with the loss of her mother. The two bond over hot chocolate and the stories Jimmie's mother wrote in her notebook (Jimmie can't read and Subhi can, so Subhi becomes the de facto storyteller).
The book is also about the power of stories. Not just the fictional stories from Jimmie's mother and the stories the other members of the camp tell Subhi about life back home, or about his father, but also the real life existence of these refugees living in these conditions in detention centers around the globe. There is a powerful message here that should be told and retold, to our friends and family as well as our politicians and lawmakers.
For all that there is an agenda in the book - educating readers about the Rohingya - The Bone Sparrow does not read like a book with an agenda. Instead, it is the story of the unlikely friendship between Subhi, a refugee born in an Australian detention center, and Jimmie, an Australian girl who struggles with the loss of her mother. The two bond over hot chocolate and the stories Jimmie's mother wrote in her notebook (Jimmie can't read and Subhi can, so Subhi becomes the de facto storyteller).
Spoiler
There is also a side plot involving Subhi's friend Eli, who gets moved to a different part of the center, leads a hunger strike and may also have set fire to the camp, inciting a riot. Subhi isn't very clear on who began the fire that destroys almost all of the center, so I'm making an assumption here based on the clues the book gave. If I'm wrong just let me know!The book is also about the power of stories. Not just the fictional stories from Jimmie's mother and the stories the other members of the camp tell Subhi about life back home, or about his father, but also the real life existence of these refugees living in these conditions in detention centers around the globe.