I have just finished reading an uncorrected draft proof of Zana Fraillon’s novel The Bone Sparrow, which I was given at the recent CBCA Conference.
Wow! This is a winner!
It is the most beautifully written, heart wrenching Y A book I have read for ages. I really couldn’t put it down. I had to just keep reading to get to the end to find out about Subhi and Jimmie.
Subhi was born in an Australian detention centre. We aren’t told which one. It is fiction after all. A Rohingya. The persecuted, ethnic Muslim minority from Myanmar. Persecuted by Buddhists would you believe.
Jimmie is a young girl, whose mother has died and father works away. She is lost.
Zara’s language is stunning. The two voices she uses for Subhi and Jimmie are spot on.
I am going to buy a class set for our students. It is must read. And there are so many chances for meaningful discussion throughout the book.
My prediction is that this book is going to win a swag of awards. And rightly so. It is magnificent.
I thought I might pass it on for others to read…but it has an inscription to me and is signed by the author…so this one is a keeper!