The Bone Sparrow

by Zana Fraillon, S. Shakthidharan (Adapted by)

Overview

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's ever known. Now his imagination is pushing at the limits of his world.

One day, Jimmie appears on the other side of the fence, bringing a notebook written by the mother she lost. Unable to read it, she relies on Subhi to unravel her own family's mysterious and moving history. Together, Subhi and Jimmie must find a way to freedom, and they must be braver than they've ever been before...

The Bone Sparrow, Zana Fraillon's powerful and deeply moving novel about the displacement and treatment of refugees and sanctuary seekers, has been widely read and studied around the world since its publication in 2017.

This enthralling stage adaptation by award-winning Australian playwright S. Shakthidharan was first produced on a UK tour in 2022 by Pilot Theatre with York Theatre Royal, Derby Theatre, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, and Mercury Theatre Colchester.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781839040818
Publisher:	Theatre Communications Group
Publication date:	04/18/2023
Pages:	136
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.75(h) x (d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Zana Fraillon is an Australian writer of fiction for children and young adults based in Melbourne, Australia. Her books include The Bone Sparrow, which has been widely read and studied around the world since its publication in 2016. The Bone Sparrow won the ABIA Book of the Year for Older Children, the Readings Young Adult Book Prize and the Amnesty CILIP Honour Award. It was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Award and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. It was adapted for the stage by S. Shakthidharan (Pilot Theatre, 2022).

S. Shakthidharan is a writer, director and producer of film and theatre, as well as a composer and performer of original music. He is based in Sydney, Australia. His adaptation of The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon was premiered by Pilot Theatre on a tour of the UK in 2022.

Editorial Reviews

"Powerful... such stories are as necessary as ever." —Guardian

"Powerful and moving... the writing soul-shakingly communicates the truthfulness of the characters' experiences." —Observer

"A timely reminder of our unseeing cruelty towards those forced out of their homes by war, genocide, or other atrocities." —British Theatre Guide

Praise for the novel, The Bone Sparrow:

"With an affecting and distinctive narrative voice... [Zana Fraillon] builds a convincing and complete world. Moving and memorable, The Bone Sparrow deserves to be read by all who care about our common humanity" —Guardian

"A heartrending tale about how our stories make us, and also an angry polemic, vividly convincing in its detailed description of what it means for your home to be a tent in the dust behind a guarded fence." —Sunday Times

"This is a tragic, beautifully crafted and wonderful book whose chirpy, stoic hero shames us all." —Independent

From the Publisher

★ 10/03/2016
Subhi hangs on his mother’s stories of her life in Burma as a Rohingya, a persecuted ethnic Muslim minority. Subhi’s Maá (mother) and his older sister were among the Rohingya exiled from their homeland and relegated to a detention center in Australia, where he was born. The 10-year-old’s imagination helps him survive in a refugee camp ruled by abusive guards as he watches Maá sink into catatonia and waits in vain for the arrival of his father, an outspoken poet. Australian author Fraillon crafts a harrowing vision of life in the detention center (shoes are rarities, rats and mold are rampant, children race lice for fun), yet Subhi finds solace in sensitively portrayed friendships with a rebellious older boy, a compassionate guard, and an intrepid girl named Jimmie who sneaks into the camp to hear Subhi read stories her late mother recorded in a notebook; though most of the story is told from Subhi’s first-person perspective, several third-person chapters focus on Jimmie’s life outside the camp. While addressing themes of loss, desperation, and injustice in an all-too-relevant setting, Fraillon’s resonant novel underscores the healing power of story. Ages 9–12. Agent: Claire Wilson, Rogers, Coleridge & White. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

09/01/2016
Gr 5 Up—Subhi knows only life in the Australian refugee detention center where he was born, and lately, things are getting worse. His mother is increasingly lethargic, older sister Queeny is bossy and angry, and his best friend Eli has been transferred to the single men's compound. The Jackets (guards) are unfriendly, except for Harvey, who occasionally brings presents and diversions. It's at this low point that Subhi meets Jimmie, a local child who finds her way into the camp. Jimmie's mother has died, and between her father's grief and his erratic work schedule, she is alone for long periods. Jimmie can't read, so she asks Subhi to read aloud her mother's notebooks, which contain stories from her mother's past. The unrelenting conditions of the camp result in a tragic situation that impacts both children. Fraillon creates a complex narrative, weaving tales from Subhi, Jimmie, and the notebooks. The characters and situations are portrayed realistically—once Eli has gone, Subhi cannot withstand the bullying of some of the older boys and is pressured into an act of animal cruelty. Kind guard Harvey is also shown to be unable to deal with peer pressure. While the book is fictional, the author based it on research and reports of life in Australian detention centers, where conditions are grim. Readers will come away with a raised awareness of life in such centers, but why these facilities exist is not discussed. Students may be inspired to do their own research on organizations working to better the lives of refugees. VERDICT A thought-provoking and affecting selection that highlights a current situation in many countries. Hand to readers who appreciated Linda Sue Park's A Long Walk to Water.—Michelle Anderson, Tauranga City Libraries, New Zealand

School Library Journal

2016-08-17
In the Australian detention camp where he was born and still lives, Subhi, 10, a Rohingya boy, shares a crowded tent with his mother, older sister, and other refugees and dreams of an unbounded world and the Night Sea. Stories feed Subhi’s vivid imagination, especially the ones his mother tells of life back in Burma, but Maá rarely speaks now. Camp living conditions are dire: borderline inedible food, appalling sanitation, and the Jackets’ inhumane treatment, which ranges from indifferent to cruel (kindly guard Harvey is the exception). Subhi helps his friend Eli trade valuable items among detainees until Eli is sent to live with the adult single men; then his companionship is limited to the Shakespeare duck, a rubber duck he keeps in his pocket to talk to—and who talks back in his portion of the narration. Near the camp, another child, Jimmie, also 10, lives with her father and brother. Jimmie treasures but can’t yet read her deceased mother’s notebook of stories. Following a (false) rumor that detained kids have bikes, Jimmie sneaks into the camp unnoticed. After meeting Subhi, who’s happy to read the stories to her, she visits frequently, bringing hot chocolate and snacks. These easily accomplished visits don’t square with the established gulaglike conditions and contradict the brutal realities already conveyed. Suspenseful but less-consequential, this weaker subplot dilutes the starker, more powerful tragedy and, like Jimmie’s character, is less fleshed out. Readers will trip over the plot’s loose ends. If the strong lyrical voice can’t quite compensate for the plot’s awkward execution, it points to a reservoir of underutilized talent in an author worth watching. (afterword) (Fiction. 9-12)

Kirkus Reviews