Human and Social Education
Fiction
• 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. He decided the only way he was going to do something was to get to a better school and so he decides to go to a white school miles away. This brings additional problems as he is the only Indian at the school and the people on the Reservation treat him as a traitor. There is a lot of pain as Arnold tries to grapple with rejection by the Reservation. His parents care for him (although they have no money and are constantly drunk) but with the help his growing skill at basketball, he comes through triumphantly. 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. (13 – 16 years)
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)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Written from the perspective of a fifteen year old boy who has Asperger’s Syndrome, this is a very moving story. Christopher is brilliant at maths and science but is unable to respond to or to give affection. He keeps his own rules which he has invented to make sense of his life. When he finds his neighbour’s dog dead on his front lawn, he is determined to find the culprit and following his own internal logic he investigates the crime. (13 years up)
A Different Sort of Real: the Diary of Charlotte McKenzie, Melbourne 1918 - 1919 by Kerry Greenwood A most absorbing and believable story. Charlotte struggles to understand her father’s shell shock as a result of the Great War but she finds great rewards as she helps the local doctor tend patients stricken by the devastating influenza epidemic sweeping the community. (9 years up)
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)
Flour Babies by Anne Fine
A very entertaining novel which a class is given a lesson in responsibility when they have to care for their “flour babies” which are really six pound bags of flour, as if they were real babies. (9 – 13 years)
Lady Dance by Jackie French
An unusual story about the horrors of the plague set in medieval times. (9 – 14 years)
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)
Love, Ghosts and Nose Hair by Steven Herrick
A highly successful verse novel. Humorous, engaging, sad and full of vitality this is the story of 16 year old Jack and his friends, his family, his hopes and his fears. (13 years up)
The Midwife’s Apprentice by Cushman
A homeless young girl is given food and shelter in return for helping the village midwife. However she shows such determination and perseverance that she is finally accepted as the midwife’s apprentice. (10 – 14 years)
Painted Love letters by Catherine Bateson
A moving account of a family coping with the death of their much loved father. (12 years up)
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
This book has been an international bestseller and is extremely popular in particular with Year 9 boys. (14 years up) Told by an excellent story teller, this is the story of a young boy who learns from the boxing ring that small can beat big and sets out to be the welterweight champion. It is set in a South Africa divided by racism and hatred and has a strong message against racism. The Power of One - Young Readers’ Edition pb $19.95 is the story of Pekay’s life till he goes to high school. (11 - 15 years)
The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman
Sally Lockhart is a most memorable heroine in this absorbing mystery set in Victorian London. As well as being a gripping and exciting mystery with connections to the exotic Far East, the book also gives a vivid portrayal of the seamier side of London in Victoria times, especially of child poverty and of some of the vices such as the opium trade in Victorian times. (13 up)
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)
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 are changed. (13 years up)
Throwaway Daughter by Ting-Xing Ye with William Bell
Grace is adopted and now lives in Canada with her parents and older sister Megan. She knows almost nothing about her Chinese background except that she was abandoned as a baby and left at an orphanage. When Grace is sixteen she goes to China for a language course and manages to locate her family and her mother. This is a very moving story giving us a vivid picture of grace growing up in Canada but also of the hardship and tragedy of a family in China and the very different personalities involved. (11 – 17 years)
• Town by James Roy
Thirteen short stories are told by thirteen different adolescents over the course of year in an Australian country town. The stories are linked because they often deal with the same characters but through the various stories they are described from different viewpoints. It makes for a fascinating portrait of the young people in this town. Some of the stories are humorous, others are sad; some deal with grief and loss, others with love and hope. The book won the Golden Inky in the 2008 Inky Awards which are chosen through internet voting by teenage readers themselves from a short list of books put up the website www.insideadog.com.au (12 - 17 years).
Two Weeks with the Queen by Morris Gleitzman
This is one of Morris Gleitzman’s best novels in which he interweaves humour and tragedy as Colin seeks a cure from the Queen’s top doctors for his brother’s cancer. (9 – 13 years)
• 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. He decided the only way he was going to do something was to get to a better school and so he decides to go to a white school miles away. This brings additional problems as he is the only Indian at the school and the people on the Reservation treat him as a traitor. There is a lot of pain as Arnold tries to grapple with rejection by the Reservation. His parents care for him (although they have no money and are constantly drunk) but with the help his growing skill at basketball, he comes through triumphantly. 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. (13 – 16 years)
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)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
Written from the perspective of a fifteen year old boy who has Asperger’s Syndrome, this is a very moving story. Christopher is brilliant at maths and science but is unable to respond to or to give affection. He keeps his own rules which he has invented to make sense of his life. When he finds his neighbour’s dog dead on his front lawn, he is determined to find the culprit and following his own internal logic he investigates the crime. (13 years up)
A Different Sort of Real: the Diary of Charlotte McKenzie, Melbourne 1918 - 1919 by Kerry Greenwood A most absorbing and believable story. Charlotte struggles to understand her father’s shell shock as a result of the Great War but she finds great rewards as she helps the local doctor tend patients stricken by the devastating influenza epidemic sweeping the community. (9 years up)
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)
Flour Babies by Anne Fine
A very entertaining novel which a class is given a lesson in responsibility when they have to care for their “flour babies” which are really six pound bags of flour, as if they were real babies. (9 – 13 years)
Lady Dance by Jackie French
An unusual story about the horrors of the plague set in medieval times. (9 – 14 years)
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)
Love, Ghosts and Nose Hair by Steven Herrick
A highly successful verse novel. Humorous, engaging, sad and full of vitality this is the story of 16 year old Jack and his friends, his family, his hopes and his fears. (13 years up)
The Midwife’s Apprentice by Cushman
A homeless young girl is given food and shelter in return for helping the village midwife. However she shows such determination and perseverance that she is finally accepted as the midwife’s apprentice. (10 – 14 years)
Painted Love letters by Catherine Bateson
A moving account of a family coping with the death of their much loved father. (12 years up)
The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
This book has been an international bestseller and is extremely popular in particular with Year 9 boys. (14 years up) Told by an excellent story teller, this is the story of a young boy who learns from the boxing ring that small can beat big and sets out to be the welterweight champion. It is set in a South Africa divided by racism and hatred and has a strong message against racism. The Power of One - Young Readers’ Edition pb $19.95 is the story of Pekay’s life till he goes to high school. (11 - 15 years)
The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman
Sally Lockhart is a most memorable heroine in this absorbing mystery set in Victorian London. As well as being a gripping and exciting mystery with connections to the exotic Far East, the book also gives a vivid portrayal of the seamier side of London in Victoria times, especially of child poverty and of some of the vices such as the opium trade in Victorian times. (13 up)
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)
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 are changed. (13 years up)
Throwaway Daughter by Ting-Xing Ye with William Bell
Grace is adopted and now lives in Canada with her parents and older sister Megan. She knows almost nothing about her Chinese background except that she was abandoned as a baby and left at an orphanage. When Grace is sixteen she goes to China for a language course and manages to locate her family and her mother. This is a very moving story giving us a vivid picture of grace growing up in Canada but also of the hardship and tragedy of a family in China and the very different personalities involved. (11 – 17 years)
• Town by James Roy
Thirteen short stories are told by thirteen different adolescents over the course of year in an Australian country town. The stories are linked because they often deal with the same characters but through the various stories they are described from different viewpoints. It makes for a fascinating portrait of the young people in this town. Some of the stories are humorous, others are sad; some deal with grief and loss, others with love and hope. The book won the Golden Inky in the 2008 Inky Awards which are chosen through internet voting by teenage readers themselves from a short list of books put up the website www.insideadog.com.au (12 - 17 years).
Two Weeks with the Queen by Morris Gleitzman
This is one of Morris Gleitzman’s best novels in which he interweaves humour and tragedy as Colin seeks a cure from the Queen’s top doctors for his brother’s cancer. (9 – 13 years)
