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The Bone Sparrow
The Bone Sparrow: a refugee novel | Zana Fraillon
Subhi is a refugee who has spent all ten years of his life in a detention centre. Jimmie is a girl who lives on the Outside. Beautiful, vivid, and deeply moving, The Bone Sparrow is an important, timely story of survival and bravery, perfect for fans of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. This novel reminds us all of the importance of freedom, hope, and the power of a story to speak for anyone who's ever struggled to find a safe home. Born in a refugee camp, all Subhi knows of the world is that he's at least 19 fence diamonds high, the nice Jackets never stay long, and at night he dreams that the sea finds its way to his tent, bringing with it unusual treasures. And one day it brings him Jimmie. Carrying a notebook that she's unable to read and wearing a sparrow made out of bone around her neck - both talismans of her family's past and the mother she's lost - Jimmie strikes up an unlikely friendship with Subhi beyond the fence. As he reads aloud the tale of how Jimmie's family came to be, both children discover the importance of their own stories in writing their futures.
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review
gianna.hood
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Pickpick

Genre: Novel, Fiction
Date: 3/5/20-?
Why did you chose this book: I chose this book after finding the cover and the backstory interesting and something worth reading.
Summary: The Bone sparrow is about a young refugee boy, Subhi, living on a detention center with his mother and sister, hoping that is father will come back for him. One day though, he meets another girl, on the other side of the fences he“s trapped in.
(293 pages)

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gradcat
Bone Sparrow | Zana Fraillon
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#bookmail #litworld2018gb Thank you very much @GatheringBooks — I just found my prize from your giveaway on my front porch today!! I love it, and I love that I won something (that‘s very abnormal for me)! I look forward to reading it!

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Tove_Reads
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I‘ve been to 70 different countries this year 🙂 I would be interested in #1 and #2. @GatheringBooks #litworld2018gb Thanks for the giveaway!

GatheringBooks oh wow! 70! that is an awesome literary journey! 5y
33 likes1 comment
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MayJasper
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Such a kind giveaway from @GatheringBooks
My answer to the #litworld2018gb question is 11 countries visited this year in books I have read.
I would like book #1 if I win 😀

GatheringBooks thank you so much for reposting! great literary journey!! :) 5y
53 likes1 comment
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GatheringBooks
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We are giving away 6 books for our Literary Voyage Around the World Reading Challenge. Just REPOST and share how many countries you visited this year through books and you automatically get a chance to win any of these titles. Guesstimate is fine! Open internationally. Indicate which book (#1 to #6) you prefer. Just tag @GatheringBooks and hashtag #LitWorld2018GB. Open until 15 December 2018! Do share! #BookGiveaway! #PayingItForward! #FreeBooks

Texreader What a cool idea! I‘m going to have to check my list and post it! 5y
GatheringBooks @Texreader wonderful! looking forward to it. :) 😘🧚🏼‍♀️📚 5y
56 likes2 comments
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LitsyHappenings
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Repost for @GatheringBooks :
We are paying it forward & giving away six books for our #LitWorld2018GB reading challenge. Just share how many countries you visited this year through books and you automatically get a chance to win any of these titles. Open internationally. Indicate which book (#1 to #6) you prefer. Just tag @GatheringBooks and hashtag #LitWorld2018GB. Open until 15 December 2018! Do share! #BookGiveaway! #PayingItForward! #FreeBooks

GatheringBooks thank youuuu!!! 💕🧚🏼‍♀️😍😘📚📚📚 5y
48 likes1 comment
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rockpools
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The wonderful @GatheringBooks is giving away 6 books as part of the #litworld2018gb challenge. See her feed for details, repost, and let us know how many countries you've visited through books this year.

I've visited about 20 countries this year - which I'm quite delighted about, as I didn't think I'd 'travelled' that much! I'd love to read #1 Bone Shadow. Thank you for the giveaway 😊

GatheringBooks wonderful!! thank you so much for reposting!! :) 5y
43 likes1 comment
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IndoorDame
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#LitWorld2018GB
If my Goodreads reading challenge page is to be trusted I visited 6 countries this year
I‘d love a chance to win #1
@GatheringBooks Thank you so much for doing this generous giveaway! I hope this is right - it was really fun looking back at my literary travels!

GatheringBooks this is great! thanks for reposting! 🧚🏼‍♀️📚 5y
16 likes1 comment
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gradcat
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Hello kittens!
@GatheringBooks Sorry about the lack of alacrity, but I‘m reposting now, ha ha! Happy to do it for such a nice giveaway! As I said before, I‘m estimating that I visited about 15 countries via books this year. I‘d love to read the book I tagged, The Bone Sparrow!
C‘mon everybody—join in #litworld2018gb giveaway! Where did you go this year, by way of reading?

GatheringBooks awesomesauce!! love it!!! 5y
Trashcanman The sound of the drum is calling. 5y
gradcat @Trashcanman Good, because it calls for “kittens,” and I meant “littens!” 5y
56 likes3 comments
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GatheringBooks
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Hey book tribe in Litsy, we are paying it forward and giving away six books for our #LitWorld2018GB reading challenge. Just share how many countries you visited this year through books and you automatically get a chance to win any of these titles. Open internationally. Indicate which book (#1 to #6) you prefer. Just tag @GatheringBooks and hashtag #LitWorld2018GB. Open until 15 December 2018! Do share! #BookGiveaway! #PayingItForward! #FreeBooks

gradcat @GatheringBooks I hope I did it right...see above 😊😊😊 5y
43 likes1 comment
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GatheringBooks
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Join us for the #LitWorld2018GB Literary Voyage Around the World reading challenge. These are the books up for grabs this July-Sep 2018: one winner per month! Here is the linky so that you will be eligible for prizes. Do not forget to tag me and use the hashtag in the next 3 months! Enjoy touring the world thru books - https://gatheringbooks.org/july-sept-2018-linky/

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alisiakae
Bone Sparrow | Zana Fraillon
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Thanks for the giveaway, @MrsMalaprop and congrats on your milestone! 🎉🎉🎉

I lived in Brisbane for a few years, and have a whole shelf of Aussie authors I love - Tim Winton, Nick Earls, Peter Carey, Kate Morton...Mem Fox! I would love to add the tagged book! #ozfictiongiveaway

MrsMalaprop Thanks for entering my comp. I‘ve not heard of that book. It looks intriguing. 6y
alisiakae @MrsMalaprop I used to work with asylum seekers and refugees in Brisbane, which is probably why this book ended up on my radar! 6y
82 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Jabberwocky
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I‘m starting my next #postlit choice tonight, but as I can‘t post about that I thought I would post my #dollartreefind 💚 Ours never has any good choices and my partner is weirdly biased against dollar tree (she prefers dollarama. Violently) I only get a chance to go when she‘s at work 😅. These two look amazing though!!

AmyG I have never heard of dollarama. Looks like 2 good books. 6y
67 likes1 comment
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HiddenGemBooks
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This short but captivating novel tells the story of Subhi, a young boy who was born and has lived his entire life in a refugee camp. Everything changes when Jimmie appears on the other side of the fence, carrying a notebook that she can't read, but that Subhi can.

47 likes3 stack adds
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juliavegan
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"We are innocent.
Please help us be free.
We can't live without hope."

1 like1 stack add
review
Jeg
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Mehso-so

I'm glad I read this. However found the style of writing not the best for me. Might be because it's written for kids???
Based on extensive research it is certainly food for thought. The main character has been born in detention. His family from Burma and of the Rohingya people. That in itself caught my attention as their plight well documented.
I think it would be good for older kids to read, think about and discuss. @MrsMalaprop

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novelteacorner
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Pickpick

Heartbreaking and yet full of hope. A very powerful book for young adults and adults alike.

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Kristy_K
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I bought this a while ago and still need to read it. About a refugee boy living in an immigration detention center.

#junebookbugs #refugees

Bambolina_81 This is on my tbr for the #litsy2017 reading challenge 😊 7y
DaydreamingBookworm I love seeing refugee narratives! One of my students recommended this book to me. It's very well written and I highly recommend it. 7y
Kristy_K @DaydreamingBookworm I'll have to look that up. Thanks! 7y
55 likes3 stack adds3 comments
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Lindy
Bone Sparrow | Zana Fraillon
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Pickpick

Told from the viewpoint of a child who has lived in an Australian refugee detainment camp for all of his 10 years. The guards treat everyone, including children, like criminals. Heartbreaking, with some hope at the end. For age 10 and up, with a recommendation that adults read it also and thus facilitate discussion with younger readers about the global refugee crisis.

shawnmooney Great review - hear, hear! 7y
Lindy @shawnmooney Thanks! 7y
37 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Lindy
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From the afterword: "Since the passing of a new law in the Australian parliament, it is now a criminal offence to disclose the mistreatment of refugees in detention."

Image: http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-28/barns-newhouse-detention-centre-secrecy...

rockpools That's just... ?! 7y
TrishB Seriously??? 7y
bookwrm526 Horrifying 7y
Lindy @CherylDeFranceschi @RachelO @TrishB @bookwrm526 The more I read about refugees around the world, the sadder I get. It's important to know, however. 7y
30 likes5 comments
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Lindy
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For years I didn't get it. That we aren't wanted in this place, or in Burma, or in any other place. I didn't get that we aren't wanted anywhere. For a long time I thought we were just waiting on my ba, is all.

30 likes2 stack adds
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Lindy
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The page corners have sparrows; flip through quickly to watch them fly. A touching, hopeful detail.

LeahBergen ❤️ 7y
readingonarainyday Love that! 7y
Dragon I loved flip books as a kid 😀 7y
52 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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Lindy

"My ba used to tell me his stories. A long time ago, before I was even born. He would huddle over Maa's stomach, me curled inside, and he'd rub his hands all over her belly and pull the heat right out of it, taking away all the pain that roared through her."

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Lindy

"Maa tells me never to look too closely at the food, and whenever I find flies or worms, she says I'm extra lucky because they give me protein."

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Lindy
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From one refugee story to another. This one is a novel about a Rohingya boy, born in a refugee camp in Australia. He's been there for 9 years; his mother measures his growth by the number of mesh diamonds on the fence that surrounds them. 😟

shawnmooney Wow, look at you go! This one also sounds terrific! 7y
39 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
JPeterson
Bone Sparrow | Zana Fraillon
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Pickpick

Suhbi was born and raised in an Australian Detention Centre. All he knows is life within four walls and to follow the rules of the Jackets.
A children‘s book that can change anyone's perspective, since you become captivated by Suhbi and learn what it is like to grown up in fences all your life. I was sadly ignorant of the refugees plight in Australia. Truly heartbreaking. #ReadDiverse. Read about different cultures. Awareness is the first step.

JPeterson Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this beautiful, yet devastating book in exchange for an unbiased review. 7y
LazyOwl I need to read this, thanks for the review 7y
JPeterson @LazyOwlBookBlog It is incredibly sad, but captivating and worth the read. 7y
78 likes7 stack adds3 comments
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yayeahyeah
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This one sounds like a stunning and important read - hoping to start it soon!

KatKatMeow1 This is on my list too! Gah, too many books to read! 7y
11 likes1 stack add1 comment
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imabusybee
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Morning read.

6 likes1 stack add
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IReadThereforeIBlog
Mehso-so

Zara Fraillon's middle-grade novel (shortlisted for the 2016 Guardian Children's Fiction Award) combines the harsh realities of life in a refugee camp with a magical realist fable to worthy if mixed effect.

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Daisey
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Switching to my phone for some fireside reading and hot spiked cider on this beautiful autumn evening.

#readathon #NetGalley #middlegrade

Suzze Mmmm. Nice... 7y
missberlyreads I want to go there! 7y
24 likes1 stack add2 comments
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charminggoats
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Mehso-so

Book 2 for #24in48 #readathon is complete! This one wasn't my favorite but it's a middle grades book, so I totally recognize I'm not the intended audience here. It just reminded me a little too much of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I love that they're bringing attention to the plight of refugees to a younger audience though.

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charminggoats
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This sounds interesting. Time to start book 2! #24in48 #readathon #ARC

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BookAndABrew
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Pickpick

This is such an important read. Highlights the plight of the Burmese Rohingya people, declared by the UN and Amnesty International as one of the most persecuted people on earth. Hunted into extinction by the Myanmar government, forced from their homes and killed or left to die. Many end up in refugee camps and detention centres like the one described in the book and never get out. Read it. Read it. Read it.

16 likes5 stack adds
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BookAndABrew
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About to settle down with my beautiful proof of The Bone Sparrow. I love proofs even more than regular books. There's something so special about them and I'm so greedy for them. They're like the shiny Pokemon of books.

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lucy_literati
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This looks amazing. Just contacted Hachette Children's as would love to read this in my school reading group. Fingers crossed 🌟

Lea Sweet cover art! 8y
11 likes1 comment
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Missusb
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This will be tough - a book that highlights children in detention centres. Australia's ongoing shame. I accept that there are no easy answers, but Govts who celebrate #stoptheboats aren't trying hard enough. #personalrant #IMO #middlefiction #preview

1 like1 stack add