The Bone Sparrow is an amazing story -- I just couldn't take too much at once. I am definitely the target audience here. I know little about Burma or its ethnic groups, but I care deeply about the plight of refugees worldwide (especially children) and desire (need) to know more.

It's set in an Australian refugee camp; it follows a boy named Subhi who lives there with his sister Queeny and his mother and all we know about their past so far is that Subhi has been born there so he's lived in the camp all his life and the two girls fled from their homeland far away. It focuses on imagination; it focuses on refugee life; it focuses on how a story can help you escape. It's mainly about the relationship between Subhi and Jimmie who is a very impatient, chatty girl who does not live in the camp but visits through a hole in the fence. We learn that Jimmie does not have an alive mother and her mother has left her this book containing a story that her mother told to her but Jimmie cannot read so she relies on Subhi to allow her to escape into this poignant story and cling to her mother's existence. Zana Fraillon, an Australian author, has penned a heart breaking and thoroughly compelling tale about refugees in her latest book, The Bone Sparrow that is centered around a young refugee boy living his days with his mother and his elder sister in an Australian detention camp where he spends his days helping his orphan friend to smuggle and with an outsider to help her read the stories about her family history, all the while longing to meet his father across the ocean and to save his soul from such a wretched place. The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon has been described by readers as captivating, powerful, disturbing, necessary, important, touching, enlightening and much more.

Het verhaal wordt verteld door de ogen van Subhi, met zijn kinderlijke gedachten, zijn fantasie en zijn woorden.

En ik wou dat ik het niet snapte, want dat ik het snap lost niks op. Dat ik het snap maakt het alleen maar erger.’ In many ways, 'The Bone Sparrow' reminds me of one of my favorite books of all time, 'The Storyteller', by Jodi Picoult. Both books entwine a present day story with an original fairytale. The fairytale captures part of the ordeal that the character in the main story is going through. Wanneer andere mensen in het kamp besluiten in hongerstaking te gaan denkt Subhi: ‘De hele wereld is gek geworden en alles staat op instorten.’ Hij voelt dat er steeds meer spanning in de lucht hangt en dat er wat te wachten staat. Op dat moment neemt hij een beslissing die hij eerder niet had durven maken.

The Bone Sparrow will be highly acclaimed and will be on Literature reading lists.Get in early, read it now. Don’t let the marketing aimed at children fool you: this book is loaded for adults.'⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND GO READ THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW. I just finished it about half an hour ago and I’m reeling. Beautiful, poignant, enlightening, heartbreaking, and hopeful - this, THIS is why middle grade books should absolutely not be overlooked as worthy literature. This should sit right alongside other books shedding light on the plight of refugees and asylum seekers. This is the kind of book that helps all our hearts grow bigger - big enough to make sure that no one in this scary world is forgotten. Read it.

Overall, this is an captivating book that ensnares and engages readers from beginning to end. I definitely recommend that everyone, all ages, read this novel. Wat een goed geschreven verhaal! Van tevoren wist ik dat het zich afspeelde in een vluchtelingenkamp, maar niet dat het zo goed geschreven was. Dit boek verdient meer aandacht, want helaas is dit wel de harde werkelijkheid in sommige kampen. Zo gaan wij toch niet om met mensen?The National Literacy Trust is a registered charity no. 1116260 and a company limited by guarantee no. 5836486 registered in England and Wales and a registered charity in Scotland no. SC042944. Eight year old Subhi survives behind within the wire compound of the detention centre, overcrowded bodies neglected under the parched Australian sun. Subhi is one child of thousands of men, women and children escaping their homeland and applying for asylum in Australia. Born within the compound, his family surviving the harrowing journey from Burma where his father is under political incarceration. Persecuted and malnourished, families are placed within the compound and abandoned by the Australian government, segregated from their family members while abused and tormented by confinement.

Subhi makes up for many of the things he is missing in his life (like toys and books) by using his imagination. Every night he imagines a night sea lapping up against the tent flaps. The sea brings creatures and treasures with it. The way that Fraillon describes the Night Sea is so vivid and detailed, that you can actually feel the sea breeze and hear the tide.

I loved the friendship that develops between Subhi and Jimmie. I loved the storytelling elements. I loved Subhi's friendship with Eli and the complexities of his relationship with Harvey. And I love that by making Subhi and his family Rohingya, Fraillon has made the story incredibly timely. Moving and memorable, The Bone Sparrow deserves to be read by all who care about our common humanity.'