Risk-Takers
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
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
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,
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
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
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
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
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
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,
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
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
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
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
