Communicators
Fiction to support the IB Learner Profile for the Middle Years Programme
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
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
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
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,
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
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 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
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
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
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,
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
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
