Refugee Week
We have some wonderful books to help you celebrate Refugee Week ( 19th -25th of June 2022) This year’s theme is Healing, so why not share in their stories to help you to better understand, empathize and appreciate the experiences of others.
By Thanhhà Lai
The stunning sequel to the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling verse novel Inside Out & Back Again
I ache to know
how much longer
until clouds touch us,
ending refugee living.
It's been two years since H and her family arrived in Alabama as refugees from the Vietnam War. They've worked hard to make a life for themselves in America, but it hasn't come easy. H has only just begun to feel settled when Mother decides that the family will move to Texas for a new job.
H knows how hard starting over is and doesn't want to do it again. But sometimes even an unwanted change can bring opportunity, new friends and a place to call home.
When Clouds Touch Us is a lyrical and compelling story of upheaval, growth and love.
By Mariko Nagai
Twelve-year-old Natsu and her family live a quiet farm life in Manchuria, near the border of the Soviet Union. But the life they've known begins to unravel when her father is recruited to the Japanese army, and Natsu and her little sister, Cricket, are left orphaned and destitute. In a desperate move to keep her sister alive, Natsu sells Cricket to a Russian family following the 1945 Soviet occupation.
The journey to redemption for Natsu's broken family is rife with struggles, but Natsu is tenacious and will stop at nothing to get her little sister back. Literary and historically insightful, this is one of the great untold stories of WWII.
Much like the Newbery Honor book Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai, Mariko Nagai's Under the Broken Sky is powerful, poignant, and ultimately hopeful.
By Kathryn White
Illustrated by Rachael Dean
An unforgettable, heart-warming introduction to the homelessness and refugees from a child's perspective, with empathy and friendship at its heart.
A powerful and compassionate introduction to homelessness, and the need for kindness, understanding and
friendship.
No one knows who Grace is. One day, she appeared in a shop doorway in a sleeping bag, with a cat called Luna, surrounded by strange things. When Jess and her mum strike up a friendship with Grace, Jess has questions: why did she leave her home? Does she have enough to eat? And what happens when the cold weather comes?
By Thanhhà Lai
Winner of the 2011 National Book Prize for Young People's Literature and 2012 Newbery Medal Honor Book, this stunning and engaging verse novel will captivate readers of all ages.
Moving to America turns H 's life inside out.
For all the ten years of her life, H has only known Saigon- the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by . . . and the beauty of her very own papaya tree.
But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. H and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, H discovers the foreign world of Alabama- the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape . . . and the strength of her very own family.
This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.
By Anh Do and Suzanne Do
Illustrated by Bruce Whatley
HONOUR BOOK: CBCA Book of the Year, Eve Pownell Award for Information Books, 2012
Giant waves crashed down on our little boat. I was terrified but my mum hugged me tight and told me, 'Everything will be okay. Don't worry, it will be okay.'
Anh Do nearly didn't make it to Australia. His entire family came close to losing their lives as they escaped from war-torn Vietnam in an overcrowded boat. It was a dangerous journey, with murderous pirates and terrifying storms, but they managed to survive.
Life in suburban Australia was also hard for a small boy with no English and funny lunches. But there was a loving extended family, lots of friends, and always something to laugh about for Anh, his brother Khoa and their sister Tram. And eventually for a young Anh, who tried hard to see the bright side of life no matter what the difficulty, there was triumph.
Awarded an Honour Book in the 2012 Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year awards, The Little Refugee tells the uplifting and inspiring childhood story of one of Australia's favourite personalities.
By Safdar Ahmed
Illustrated by Safdar Ahmed
In early 2011, Safdar Ahmed visited Sydney’s Villawood Immigration Detention Centre for the first time. He brought pencils and sketchbooks into the centre and started drawing with the people detained there. Their stories are told in this book.
Interweaving journalism, history and autobiography, Still Alive is an intensely personal indictment of Australia’s refugee detention policies and procedures. It is also a searching reflection on the redemptive power of art. And death metal.
WINNER 2022 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards- BOOK OF THE YEAR
WINNER 2022 NSW Premier’s Literary Award- MULTICULTURAL NSW AWARD
WINNER GOLD LEDGER 2022 COMIC ARTS AWARDS OF AUSTRALIA
WINNER -2022 CBCA EVE POWNALL AWARD
By Sherryl Clark
Illustrated by Bright Stewart
A powerful story about a young girl, Mina, and how she copes when her family take in a refugee boy and give away what was meant to be her first very-own bedroom.
Mina wants her own bedroom more than anything else in the whole wide world. And it's almost ready! Just one more lick of sunny yellow paint and it's hers.
But when Mina's parents take in an unexpected guest, they give her room away. At first, Mina is too upset to speak. She doesn't care that this new boy, Azzami, needs a place to stay.
At school, the other kids call Azzami names, and Mina wishes he'd stand up for himself. Then she sees his drawings, and for the first time really thinks about the life of the quiet boy in front of her.
Here is a story about finding friendship where you least expect it and making room for everyone across this big wide world.
By Maryam Master
A uniquely narrated, moving story about a young refugee trying to find his place in the world - from the author of Exit Through the Gift Shop.
Hero doesn't feel like a hero, but sometimes she feels as if the universe is asking her to be one.
When Aria, a mysterious boy who never EVER speaks, starts at school and is picked on by His Royal Thug-ness Doofus (Rufus), Hero and her bestie Jaz feel compelled to help. But they're far too chicken to actually do anything heroic, so they befriend Aria and try to uncover the truth about him.
What happened to his voice? Where did he come from? What are those three dents on his middle finger?
This is the story of a 12-year-old refugee who's trying to establish a new life in Australia, grapple with his past and, most importantly, find his voice. 'Cos, boy, does he have a story to tell.
By Thanhhà Lai
The topical young adult debut by National Book Award and Newbery Honor-winning author Thanhhà Lai.
Hang doesn't believe in adventures.
There are steps that must be done, and once done, another step awaits. The last step, after six years of minute planning by her grandmother, is a bus ride away. In
A-ma-ri-lo her baby brother has to be waiting. In her imaginings, he is always waiting.
National Book Award and Newbery Honor-winning author Thanhhà Lai makes her young adult debut in this deeply moving story of courage, redemption, friendship, family and new beginnings.
By Shaun Tan
Illustrated by Shaun Tan
Haunting, original and told entirely through exquisitely imagined black, white and sepia pictures, The Arrival is the story of one man's encounter with life in a strange new world. It's a timeless, universal story that will resonate with anyone, anywhere who has struggled to start again in a place that is different to the one they have always known. Much loved around the world, The Arrival has also won numerous awards including the CBCA Book of the Year and 'Best Album' at the Augouleme Festival in France.
By Zana Fraillon
Sometimes, at night, the dirt outside turns into a beautiful ocean. As red as the sun and as deep as the sky. I lie in my bed, Queeny's feet pushing up against my cheek, and listen to the waves lapping at the tent. Subhi is a refugee. Born in an Australian permanent detention centre after his mother fled the violence of a distant homeland, life behind the fences is all he has ever known. But as he grows, his imagination gets bigger too, until it is bursting at the limits of his world. The Night Sea brings him gifts, the faraway whales sing to him, and the birds tell their stories. The most vivid story of all, however, is the one that arrives one night in the form of Jimmie, a scruffy, impatient girl who appears from the other side of the wires, and brings a notebook written by the mother she lost. Unable to read it, she relies on Subhi to unravel her own family's love songs and tragedies. Subhi and Jimmie might both find a way to freedom, as their tales unfold. But not until each of them has been braver than ever before.
-'a tragic, beautifully crafted and wonderful book' - The Independent
Awards: 2017 ABIA Book of the Year for Older Children Winner, Readings Young Adult Book Prize 2017 CBCA Honour Book 2017 - Older Readers Shortlisted for the 2017 Prime Minister's Literary Awards Shortlisted for the 2017 Queensland Literary Awards Shortlisted for the 2017 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards Shortlisted for The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize 2016 Shortlisted for the Gold Inky Award 2017 Shortlisted for the 2017 CILIP Carnegie Medal Carnegie Medal Amnesty CILIP Honour Book 2017 IBBY Australia Honour Book 2018
By Rebeca Lim
What if you were forced to set sail for a country that didn't want you, to meet a father you couldn't remember?
Thirteen-year-old Fu, his younger sister, Pei, and their mother live in a small rural community in Southern China that is already enduring harsh conditions when it is collectivised as part of Mao Zedong's Great Leap Forward campaign that ultimately led to economic disaster, widespread famine and millions of deaths.
After tragedy strikes, and threatened with separation, Fu and Pei set out on a perilous journey across countries and oceans to find their father, who left for Australia almost a decade ago. With nothing to guide them but a photograph and some documents in a language they cannot read, they must draw on all their courage and tenacity just to survive - and perhaps forge a better life for themselves.
An unforgettable story of family, resilience and the complex Asian-Australian experience from the esteemed author of Tiger Daughter, winner of the CBCA Book of the year for Older Readers.
'This exciting and immediately engaging story is rich in memorable characters, full of tension, moments of tenderness and high emotion, with a deep, challenging core questioning our beliefs and prejudices.' StoryLinks