Reflective
Fiction to support the IB Learner Profile for the Middle Years Programme
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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
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
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
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
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
