Balanced
Fiction to support the IB Learner Profile for the Middle Years Programme
The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie art by Ellen Forney This is an amazing story told through a narrator who speaks so clearly and vividly to us and also draws cartoons for us. He tells the story of his childhood on the Spokane Indian Reservation with its massive problems of alcohol, and despair and where he was regularly beaten up because he was nerdy and wore glasses. The book grips our attention. Sherman Alexie does performance poetry and comedy and it shows in his writing. This story is very revealing of the complications of human relationships and of the incredible toll of alcohol abuse on the Reservations but for all that remains positive and is at times very funny. (13 – 16 years)
risk-takers, inquirers, caring, thinkers
Don’t call Me Ishmael! by Michael Gerard Bauer
This book written with a flair and vigour and love of language which is invigorating and very, very funny. When Ishmael becomes involved in an attempt to set up a debating team, it looks disastrous but is hilarious as the team gradually learn to work together. (11 – 16 years)
inquirers, risk-takers,
Benny and Omar by Eoin Colfer
Benny is devastated when he has to leave Ireland and his hurling friends and go and live in Tunisia. He is a rebel and finds the unthreatening friendly atmosphere of the international school very strange and feels more at ease with a young homeless Tunisian boy who is forced to live life on the edge. Colfer succeeds in giving a believable, unsentimental portrayal of poverty and homelessness. (10 – 15 years)
risk-takers, carers
The 10 PM Question by Kate De Goldi
Frankie is twelve going on an old man as he worries incessantly about everything. At 10 PM he wanders in to his mother to check on his latest list of anxieties. Are the smoke batteries flat? Will bird flu strike and ruin their lives? There is a very amusing eccentricity about his concerns and also about his whole family. I found Frankie an engaging character but I am unsure how 12 year old boys would find him. Perhaps they would find him and his catalogue of fears just too embarrassing? Or maybe the humour would be enough to sustain their interest. (11 – 15 years)
communicators, caring
Village by the Sea by Anita Desai
A moving story by this well known author showing some of the problems facing families trying to escape from the poverty of village life in India. It shows some of the environmental problems facing villagers as the population increases and resources are threatened but there is a belief that people can adapt to changes in the same way that some birds and animals do. (12 years up)
risk-takers, caring, inquirers, thinkers
A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly
This is a beautifully written book which is fascinating in its portrait of a small community in the Adirondack region in the early 1900s. The story is based on the real murder of a young pregnant girl who is found drowned in a lake and her story is linked to that of Mattie, about the same age, who is torn between her sense of responsibility to look after her family, her first romance and her intense desire to write and to be independent. There are many wonderful insights into Mattie’s feelings and desires and the difficulties that beset so many women of that time who wanted an education and independence. (13 years up)
risk-takers, inquirers, thinkers
The London Eye Mystery by Siobahn Dowd
Written in the first person by Ted who, as he says, has some sort of syndrome (perhaps Asperger’s) this is an absorbing book. Ted is very bright but is unable to understand why people behave in a particular way and is generally unable to read body language. He is a fascinating character and through his descriptions, we gain such an insight into his view of the world and also into his family and the way in which they behave. Moreover the plot involves a genuinely intriguing mystery about what happened to Ted’s cousin when he disappears while riding on the London Eye, the huge Ferris wheel in London. The mystery is doubly intriguing because of the way in which Ted puts his unique brain to work in trying to understand what could have happened. (11 years – 15 years)
inquirers, caring, knowledgeable, thinkers, reflective
Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd
Holly has had enough of her life as Holly, a foster child and so puts on a blonde wig and becomes two years older and bold and determined as she sets off to make her way to Ireland to find her Mam. This is a marvellous story – so convincing with characters who really come to life. Life is tough living in care but Holly does meet people who care about her. However there is so much that Holly has to work out about herself and her early life and about other people and this she does on this road trip. Holly is gritty and has a sense of humour and this shines through in this exceptional novel. (13 years up)
caring, risk-takers,
Joel and Cat Set the Story Straight by Nick Earls and Rebecca Sparrow
Nick Earls and Rebecca Sparrow have had fun written this story in tandem, about a story writing assignment that Joel and Cat (who have developed a strong antipathy to each other) have to write together. It is fast moving, witty and enjoyable. (12 – 16 years)
communicators
Macbeth and Son by Jackie French
This novel is about the truth in history and whether it really matters. Jackie French’s complaint is with Shakespeare who wrote about the Scottish King Macbeth who was by all accounts an honourable king but was turned into a villain in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. Jackie uses the dreams of a modern-day boy, Luke who is studying the play at school to show what really? or possibly happened to Lulach and his father Macbeth in eleventh century Scotland. The most fascinating aspect of the story is the theme of whether the truth really matters and whether Shakespeare was justified in making Macbeth a villain for the sake of the play. This would make a fascinating book for discussion. (11 – 14 years)
inquirers, thinkers, principled
The Goat Who Sailed the World by Jackie French
This book has two narrators, a young twelve year old boy called Isaac Manley and a much travelled and superior Goat. This narrative device gives us two very different perspectives on Cooks’ amazing voyage around the world from 1768 to 1771, when Australia was discovered and the ship was almost wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef. Isaac is a caring and very sensible young boy who learns a huge amount on this voyage. Very entertaining and informative. (8 – 14 years)
inquirers, risk-takers, principled, caring
Deadly Unna? by Phillip Gwynne
This is a perceptive and highly entertaining book describing the growing friendship between Blacky, a white teenager and Dumby Red an Aboriginal young man from out of town and how it is affected by the narrowness and pervasive racism of a country town. In the sequel Nukkin Ya, pb $19.95, Blacky falls for Dumby’s cousin but it seems that the whole town has objections to them going out together. Blacky does succeed in making a statement to the town on how he feels about racism. (13 years up)
principled
To the Boy in Berlin by Elizabeth Honey and Heike Brandt
This is the story of an intriguing email correspondence between Henni who lives in Melbourne, Australia and Leo Schmidt in Berlin. The emails fly backwards and forwards providing much amusement and also glimpses of the difference and similarities between their lives. They both become involved in working on Henni’s school project which involves fascinating historical documentation about early German immigration to Australia and the treatment of Germans in Australia during the 2 World wars. We also learn incidentally about some of the problems of immigration in Germany and Australia today. I especially liked the humour, especially humour concerning the difficulties of translation and also some of the extraordinarily long German words that exist. This is an excellent book for discussion on a variety of topics. (10 – 14 years)
inquirers, thinkers, communicators, principled, caring, open-minded
Red Scarf Girl A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji Li Jiang
A deeply moving autobiography set during the Cultural Revolution in China. Ji Li Jiang describes her own experiences as a twelve year old girl puzzling to understand the strange and terrifying events that befell her family at that time. An excellent introduction to any study of the Cultural Revolution. (11 years up)
risk-takers, principled, reflective
Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin (Young Readers Edition)
This is wonderful story about an eleven year old boy from rural China who was chosen to study ballets and Madame Mao’s dance Academy in Beijing. It is the very moving story of his struggle to overcome loneliness and hardship and how he became one of the top dancers in the USA and then in Australia. The adult edition (pb 9780670040247 $32.95) has been an immensely popular and has been made into a film. The adaptation by Li Cunxin emphasises his childhood. (11 – 15 years)
principled, reflective
Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta
It has been a bestseller with adolescents and adults because of its vitality and exuberance. Josephine is an Australian, of Italian background and this is the story of her final school year. Winner of the CBC Award 1993. (13 years up)
inquirers
Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta The most enjoyable story of Francesca and the ups and downs of her year eleven at a Catholic Boys school which is accepting girls into Year eleven for the first time. It is fascinating look at the effect of girls on the culture of a boys’ school and also the way the girls (and some of the boys) are changed. (13 years up)
caring, communicators,
Black Taxi by James Moloney
A crime/adventure with many humorous twists of plot that come when Rosie gets to look after her grandfather’s black Mercedes. It’s good to have a determined, sensible, fun-loving and life-affirming heroine. (13 years up)
risk-takers, caring
After the Death of Alice Bennett by Rowland Molony
After the death of his much loved mother, Sam struggles to understand what happens to people when they die. His Mum had said just her body was dying and that she was just going to the Other Side and so why couldn’t he get in touch with her? When Sam texts a message to a contact number in his mother’s handwriting that has been left on the fridge and receives a message back, he is convinced it is from someone who is in touch with his mother. The story of who Sam is really texting makes for an absorbing story. This is an extremely moving story about life, death and the impact of our lives on others in life and in death. (11 years up)
caring, reflective
Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo
When Michael is washed up on an island he struggles to survive on his own. He is about to give up when food appears. He is not alone. This is a wonderful story of survival and about Kensuke, an elderly Japanese man who lives on the island and has survived for many years using traditional Japanese skills and crafts. (9 – 15 years).
caring, thinkers
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
This is the remarkable story of a mountaineer who in 1993 after a disastrous attempt to climb K2 wandered exhausted and dehydrated into an impoverished village in Pakistan. There the villagers nursed Greg back to health and he was so moved by their kindness that he vowed to return and build a school for their children. That happened in 1993 and since then he has set up a fund and built over 60 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. (13 years up)
Three Cups of Tea (Young Reader’s Edition)
This Young Reader’s edition has many photographs of children from the villages and also of his own family who have also become very involved with this endeavour. There are also maps and a question and answer section with Greg’s daughter Amira and a Timeline and a Glossary. (9 – 14 years)
Stones into Schools follows chronologically from where the first book ended and so it goes from 2003 to the end of 2009. It is perhaps even more fascinating because of the descriptions of the group of Pakistani men and one Afghani man who work with Greg in Pakistan and Afghanistan and how by the end of 2009 they had managed to build 131 schools. The logistics of getting schools built and then staffed in remote areas of Pakistan is difficult enough but in remote areas of Afghanistan, the challenges are mind-boggling! (13 years up)
principled, open-minded, knowledgeable, communicators
Daughter of Venice by Donna Jo Napoli
Set in C16th Venice, this is an intriguing portrait of a young girl who is intensely curious about the world and its workings and who longs to know more about everything. As a young noblewoman, her life is very circumscribed until she comes up with an audacious plan that enables her to leave the palazzo and explore the city. It is a novel which succeeds in incorporating fascinating historical detail into the fabric of the story. (11 – 15 years)
inquirers,
The Land I Lost: Adventures of a Boy in Vietnam by Huynh Quang Nhuong. These are marvellously evocative stories of Nhuong’s village childhood in the Highland of Vietnam before the wars and the biggest dangers were from wild tiger, hog or snakes. (8 up)
Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up in Vietnam. These stories describe the exploits of the particular much loved and respected family water buffalo called Tank.
reflective, caring
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett
This is a wonderfully entertaining and continually surprising story of Maurice, a streetwise tomcat who suddenly has acquired the gift of talking and thinking. He wants to put these skills to ever more inventive money-making scams with the assistance of his unlikely friends the educated rats who also acquired the skills of speaking and thinking at about the same time. However as a natural consequence of being able to think, some of the rats begin to struggle with the question of what is right and what is wrong (especially in relation to some of Maurice’s schemes) and also with the stirrings of a conscience. (10 – 16 years)
knowledgeable, thinkers, principled
Unpolished Gem by Alice Pung
Alice Pung gives a wonderfully evocative and comic account of her family’s first responses as they arrived in Footscray in Melbourne as immigrants. They were of Chinese background who had lived first in Vietnam and then in Cambodia during very difficult times. This is the story of how her family adapts to their new life in Australia and the story of how their daughter Alice/Agheare grew up in both cultures, the old and the new. It is at times a hilarious account, richly comic in its descriptions but it also gives vivid and heartbreaking descriptions of the family’s previous life in Cambodia and also of the difficulties they encounter in adapting to their new life in Australia. (12 years up)
reflective, open-minded
Noodle Pie by Ruth Starke
When Andy and his father make a trip to Vietnam to visit relatives, it is for Andy’s father his first trip back since he escaped from the country in a rusty fishing boat when he was just 15 years old. For Andy who is 11 years old and was born in Australia, it is his first visit to Hanoi and the first time he has met any of his many relatives in Vietnam. The book is written mainly from Andy’s point of view and at first much seems very strange to him. Gradually as Andy comes to understands more about this family, we also understand so much more about Vietnam, its recent history and its people. A marvellous book written with humour and insight. (9 – 12 years)
inquirers, communicators, risk-takers, caring
The Arrival by Shaun Tan hardback
This extraordinary picture book has amazed and delighted everyone I have shown it to. It is textless and depicts many strange things and a world that we do not understand and yet at the same time it is not difficult to understand. It shows the experience of an immigrant when he or she comes to a country where they know no one and understand very little. Shaun Tan wants us to understand the feelings of apprehension as a young man leaves his young wife and daughter and his country to travel a vast distance to a completely different country where he can’t speak the language or read any signs. A country where the landscape and the creatures and even the pets are very different and where he doesn’t understand how things work or what is the purpose of so many strange things. However on his arrival in this new land, he meets new friends who show him how to get to places and how things work and they also tell him the stories of how they too came to this new land. And so we get the very moving stories of a number of immigrant families. The illustrations are meticulously drawn in detailed panels of illustrations or sometimes full page illustrations in black and white or various shades of grey and sepia. It is a very evocative and moving book. It is especially helpful for discussion with any study concerning immigrants. (9 years to adult)
risk-takers, communicators, caring
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is told mainly through the Narrator Death telling the story of a young girl left by her mother to live with foster parents in Munich and during the second world war. The book is also surprising in its quirkiness and sense of irony and at times humour while depicting a period in Europe of great suffering. (14 years up)
risk-takers, caring, reflective
The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie art by Ellen Forney This is an amazing story told through a narrator who speaks so clearly and vividly to us and also draws cartoons for us. He tells the story of his childhood on the Spokane Indian Reservation with its massive problems of alcohol, and despair and where he was regularly beaten up because he was nerdy and wore glasses. The book grips our attention. Sherman Alexie does performance poetry and comedy and it shows in his writing. This story is very revealing of the complications of human relationships and of the incredible toll of alcohol abuse on the Reservations but for all that remains positive and is at times very funny. (13 – 16 years)
risk-takers, inquirers, caring, thinkers
Don’t call Me Ishmael! by Michael Gerard Bauer
This book written with a flair and vigour and love of language which is invigorating and very, very funny. When Ishmael becomes involved in an attempt to set up a debating team, it looks disastrous but is hilarious as the team gradually learn to work together. (11 – 16 years)
inquirers, risk-takers,
Benny and Omar by Eoin Colfer
Benny is devastated when he has to leave Ireland and his hurling friends and go and live in Tunisia. He is a rebel and finds the unthreatening friendly atmosphere of the international school very strange and feels more at ease with a young homeless Tunisian boy who is forced to live life on the edge. Colfer succeeds in giving a believable, unsentimental portrayal of poverty and homelessness. (10 – 15 years)
risk-takers, carers
The 10 PM Question by Kate De Goldi
Frankie is twelve going on an old man as he worries incessantly about everything. At 10 PM he wanders in to his mother to check on his latest list of anxieties. Are the smoke batteries flat? Will bird flu strike and ruin their lives? There is a very amusing eccentricity about his concerns and also about his whole family. I found Frankie an engaging character but I am unsure how 12 year old boys would find him. Perhaps they would find him and his catalogue of fears just too embarrassing? Or maybe the humour would be enough to sustain their interest. (11 – 15 years)
communicators, caring
Village by the Sea by Anita Desai
A moving story by this well known author showing some of the problems facing families trying to escape from the poverty of village life in India. It shows some of the environmental problems facing villagers as the population increases and resources are threatened but there is a belief that people can adapt to changes in the same way that some birds and animals do. (12 years up)
risk-takers, caring, inquirers, thinkers
A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly
This is a beautifully written book which is fascinating in its portrait of a small community in the Adirondack region in the early 1900s. The story is based on the real murder of a young pregnant girl who is found drowned in a lake and her story is linked to that of Mattie, about the same age, who is torn between her sense of responsibility to look after her family, her first romance and her intense desire to write and to be independent. There are many wonderful insights into Mattie’s feelings and desires and the difficulties that beset so many women of that time who wanted an education and independence. (13 years up)
risk-takers, inquirers, thinkers
The London Eye Mystery by Siobahn Dowd
Written in the first person by Ted who, as he says, has some sort of syndrome (perhaps Asperger’s) this is an absorbing book. Ted is very bright but is unable to understand why people behave in a particular way and is generally unable to read body language. He is a fascinating character and through his descriptions, we gain such an insight into his view of the world and also into his family and the way in which they behave. Moreover the plot involves a genuinely intriguing mystery about what happened to Ted’s cousin when he disappears while riding on the London Eye, the huge Ferris wheel in London. The mystery is doubly intriguing because of the way in which Ted puts his unique brain to work in trying to understand what could have happened. (11 years – 15 years)
inquirers, caring, knowledgeable, thinkers, reflective
Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd
Holly has had enough of her life as Holly, a foster child and so puts on a blonde wig and becomes two years older and bold and determined as she sets off to make her way to Ireland to find her Mam. This is a marvellous story – so convincing with characters who really come to life. Life is tough living in care but Holly does meet people who care about her. However there is so much that Holly has to work out about herself and her early life and about other people and this she does on this road trip. Holly is gritty and has a sense of humour and this shines through in this exceptional novel. (13 years up)
caring, risk-takers,
Joel and Cat Set the Story Straight by Nick Earls and Rebecca Sparrow
Nick Earls and Rebecca Sparrow have had fun written this story in tandem, about a story writing assignment that Joel and Cat (who have developed a strong antipathy to each other) have to write together. It is fast moving, witty and enjoyable. (12 – 16 years)
communicators
Macbeth and Son by Jackie French
This novel is about the truth in history and whether it really matters. Jackie French’s complaint is with Shakespeare who wrote about the Scottish King Macbeth who was by all accounts an honourable king but was turned into a villain in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. Jackie uses the dreams of a modern-day boy, Luke who is studying the play at school to show what really? or possibly happened to Lulach and his father Macbeth in eleventh century Scotland. The most fascinating aspect of the story is the theme of whether the truth really matters and whether Shakespeare was justified in making Macbeth a villain for the sake of the play. This would make a fascinating book for discussion. (11 – 14 years)
inquirers, thinkers, principled
The Goat Who Sailed the World by Jackie French
This book has two narrators, a young twelve year old boy called Isaac Manley and a much travelled and superior Goat. This narrative device gives us two very different perspectives on Cooks’ amazing voyage around the world from 1768 to 1771, when Australia was discovered and the ship was almost wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef. Isaac is a caring and very sensible young boy who learns a huge amount on this voyage. Very entertaining and informative. (8 – 14 years)
inquirers, risk-takers, principled, caring
Deadly Unna? by Phillip Gwynne
This is a perceptive and highly entertaining book describing the growing friendship between Blacky, a white teenager and Dumby Red an Aboriginal young man from out of town and how it is affected by the narrowness and pervasive racism of a country town. In the sequel Nukkin Ya, pb $19.95, Blacky falls for Dumby’s cousin but it seems that the whole town has objections to them going out together. Blacky does succeed in making a statement to the town on how he feels about racism. (13 years up)
principled
To the Boy in Berlin by Elizabeth Honey and Heike Brandt
This is the story of an intriguing email correspondence between Henni who lives in Melbourne, Australia and Leo Schmidt in Berlin. The emails fly backwards and forwards providing much amusement and also glimpses of the difference and similarities between their lives. They both become involved in working on Henni’s school project which involves fascinating historical documentation about early German immigration to Australia and the treatment of Germans in Australia during the 2 World wars. We also learn incidentally about some of the problems of immigration in Germany and Australia today. I especially liked the humour, especially humour concerning the difficulties of translation and also some of the extraordinarily long German words that exist. This is an excellent book for discussion on a variety of topics. (10 – 14 years)
inquirers, thinkers, communicators, principled, caring, open-minded
Red Scarf Girl A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji Li Jiang
A deeply moving autobiography set during the Cultural Revolution in China. Ji Li Jiang describes her own experiences as a twelve year old girl puzzling to understand the strange and terrifying events that befell her family at that time. An excellent introduction to any study of the Cultural Revolution. (11 years up)
risk-takers, principled, reflective
Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin (Young Readers Edition)
This is wonderful story about an eleven year old boy from rural China who was chosen to study ballets and Madame Mao’s dance Academy in Beijing. It is the very moving story of his struggle to overcome loneliness and hardship and how he became one of the top dancers in the USA and then in Australia. The adult edition (pb 9780670040247 $32.95) has been an immensely popular and has been made into a film. The adaptation by Li Cunxin emphasises his childhood. (11 – 15 years)
principled, reflective
Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta
It has been a bestseller with adolescents and adults because of its vitality and exuberance. Josephine is an Australian, of Italian background and this is the story of her final school year. Winner of the CBC Award 1993. (13 years up)
inquirers
Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta The most enjoyable story of Francesca and the ups and downs of her year eleven at a Catholic Boys school which is accepting girls into Year eleven for the first time. It is fascinating look at the effect of girls on the culture of a boys’ school and also the way the girls (and some of the boys) are changed. (13 years up)
caring, communicators,
Black Taxi by James Moloney
A crime/adventure with many humorous twists of plot that come when Rosie gets to look after her grandfather’s black Mercedes. It’s good to have a determined, sensible, fun-loving and life-affirming heroine. (13 years up)
risk-takers, caring
After the Death of Alice Bennett by Rowland Molony
After the death of his much loved mother, Sam struggles to understand what happens to people when they die. His Mum had said just her body was dying and that she was just going to the Other Side and so why couldn’t he get in touch with her? When Sam texts a message to a contact number in his mother’s handwriting that has been left on the fridge and receives a message back, he is convinced it is from someone who is in touch with his mother. The story of who Sam is really texting makes for an absorbing story. This is an extremely moving story about life, death and the impact of our lives on others in life and in death. (11 years up)
caring, reflective
Kensuke’s Kingdom by Michael Morpurgo
When Michael is washed up on an island he struggles to survive on his own. He is about to give up when food appears. He is not alone. This is a wonderful story of survival and about Kensuke, an elderly Japanese man who lives on the island and has survived for many years using traditional Japanese skills and crafts. (9 – 15 years).
caring, thinkers
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
This is the remarkable story of a mountaineer who in 1993 after a disastrous attempt to climb K2 wandered exhausted and dehydrated into an impoverished village in Pakistan. There the villagers nursed Greg back to health and he was so moved by their kindness that he vowed to return and build a school for their children. That happened in 1993 and since then he has set up a fund and built over 60 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. (13 years up)
Three Cups of Tea (Young Reader’s Edition)
This Young Reader’s edition has many photographs of children from the villages and also of his own family who have also become very involved with this endeavour. There are also maps and a question and answer section with Greg’s daughter Amira and a Timeline and a Glossary. (9 – 14 years)
Stones into Schools follows chronologically from where the first book ended and so it goes from 2003 to the end of 2009. It is perhaps even more fascinating because of the descriptions of the group of Pakistani men and one Afghani man who work with Greg in Pakistan and Afghanistan and how by the end of 2009 they had managed to build 131 schools. The logistics of getting schools built and then staffed in remote areas of Pakistan is difficult enough but in remote areas of Afghanistan, the challenges are mind-boggling! (13 years up)
principled, open-minded, knowledgeable, communicators
Daughter of Venice by Donna Jo Napoli
Set in C16th Venice, this is an intriguing portrait of a young girl who is intensely curious about the world and its workings and who longs to know more about everything. As a young noblewoman, her life is very circumscribed until she comes up with an audacious plan that enables her to leave the palazzo and explore the city. It is a novel which succeeds in incorporating fascinating historical detail into the fabric of the story. (11 – 15 years)
inquirers,
The Land I Lost: Adventures of a Boy in Vietnam by Huynh Quang Nhuong. These are marvellously evocative stories of Nhuong’s village childhood in the Highland of Vietnam before the wars and the biggest dangers were from wild tiger, hog or snakes. (8 up)
Water Buffalo Days: Growing Up in Vietnam. These stories describe the exploits of the particular much loved and respected family water buffalo called Tank.
reflective, caring
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett
This is a wonderfully entertaining and continually surprising story of Maurice, a streetwise tomcat who suddenly has acquired the gift of talking and thinking. He wants to put these skills to ever more inventive money-making scams with the assistance of his unlikely friends the educated rats who also acquired the skills of speaking and thinking at about the same time. However as a natural consequence of being able to think, some of the rats begin to struggle with the question of what is right and what is wrong (especially in relation to some of Maurice’s schemes) and also with the stirrings of a conscience. (10 – 16 years)
knowledgeable, thinkers, principled
Unpolished Gem by Alice Pung
Alice Pung gives a wonderfully evocative and comic account of her family’s first responses as they arrived in Footscray in Melbourne as immigrants. They were of Chinese background who had lived first in Vietnam and then in Cambodia during very difficult times. This is the story of how her family adapts to their new life in Australia and the story of how their daughter Alice/Agheare grew up in both cultures, the old and the new. It is at times a hilarious account, richly comic in its descriptions but it also gives vivid and heartbreaking descriptions of the family’s previous life in Cambodia and also of the difficulties they encounter in adapting to their new life in Australia. (12 years up)
reflective, open-minded
Noodle Pie by Ruth Starke
When Andy and his father make a trip to Vietnam to visit relatives, it is for Andy’s father his first trip back since he escaped from the country in a rusty fishing boat when he was just 15 years old. For Andy who is 11 years old and was born in Australia, it is his first visit to Hanoi and the first time he has met any of his many relatives in Vietnam. The book is written mainly from Andy’s point of view and at first much seems very strange to him. Gradually as Andy comes to understands more about this family, we also understand so much more about Vietnam, its recent history and its people. A marvellous book written with humour and insight. (9 – 12 years)
inquirers, communicators, risk-takers, caring
The Arrival by Shaun Tan hardback
This extraordinary picture book has amazed and delighted everyone I have shown it to. It is textless and depicts many strange things and a world that we do not understand and yet at the same time it is not difficult to understand. It shows the experience of an immigrant when he or she comes to a country where they know no one and understand very little. Shaun Tan wants us to understand the feelings of apprehension as a young man leaves his young wife and daughter and his country to travel a vast distance to a completely different country where he can’t speak the language or read any signs. A country where the landscape and the creatures and even the pets are very different and where he doesn’t understand how things work or what is the purpose of so many strange things. However on his arrival in this new land, he meets new friends who show him how to get to places and how things work and they also tell him the stories of how they too came to this new land. And so we get the very moving stories of a number of immigrant families. The illustrations are meticulously drawn in detailed panels of illustrations or sometimes full page illustrations in black and white or various shades of grey and sepia. It is a very evocative and moving book. It is especially helpful for discussion with any study concerning immigrants. (9 years to adult)
risk-takers, communicators, caring
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is told mainly through the Narrator Death telling the story of a young girl left by her mother to live with foster parents in Munich and during the second world war. The book is also surprising in its quirkiness and sense of irony and at times humour while depicting a period in Europe of great suffering. (14 years up)
risk-takers, caring, reflective
