Hi guys, Julia here for the final time!
Today I’m writing up about a novel I read in year 7 called Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta. Basically the novel is about a young adolescent girl called Alibrandi. She is finishing her last year of primary school at St Martha’s and she is experiencing many issues around her cultural background, family and relationships (with friend and boyfriends). It is a great story that takes the readers through many teenage issues but ends with a happier ending where Alibrandi finally accepts her ethnic background, being proud to be an Italian-Australian.
The novel uses simple language and short sentence structure. It is admirable for upper primary school students as it covers many issues teenagers face in today’s society. It is also in first person meaning that the author can really get inside the main characters head and talk on behalf of her (learnt this in lecture 2).
Themes covered in the novel included relationships between mother and daughter, feeling out of place, relationships with boys and loss. It is a great text that I would explore with my students because it talks about important issues from a teenagers point of view.
Next I’ve read the picture book The Little Refugee by Anh Do and Suzanne Do. This book is absolutely fantastic as it talks about the journey of a refugee family from a child’s perspective. It is about a family fleeing from Vietnam during a time of war. It follows their boat trip and their experiences once living safely in Australia. I am reading this book to my students on placement because I am teaching Refugees as a topic. They are in year 3 and this book is very appropriate because it is simply written, it has great imagery and it is not violent or inappropriate at all. It is a great teacher resource that is an e-book in the Uni library!
My last book is also another book about refugees but it is more suitable for an older audience (year 7’s up to year 12’s!). It’s called Home and Away by John Marsden. If you were at the lecture in week 2 I think you might remember this book as it was talked about in relation to the author study. Basically it is about a very ‘normal’ family who suddenly become refugees when their country becomes part of the war. They are forced to flee their country to find safety and experience many horrific things along their way to a better place. However, once at this better place the members of the family who are still alive find out that they are in fact outcasts and not welcome. It is a fantastic story in teaching the hardships of being a refugee. It focuses not only on their journey but their treatments in places like Australia where they are put into concentration camps. The books images are so powerful. They (like what we learnt in lecture 3 [I think]) tell another story to what the author is writing. For example, the first few pages when the family are safe in their own home are written in a typed text. As the war begins, this typing turns into writing on a note pad, and as the families situation gets worse the writing becomes messier and on scrappier pieces of paper. This technique of imagery shows the readers the situation the family are in. It shows the lack of resources they have and this writing along with the pictures show the emotions the characters are feeling. Home and Away is a great picture book. If you ever need to teach refugees to older students I recommend it 100%!!
That’s the final post of my blog guys!
I’m off to Bali in the second week of the holidays so I will reply to any comment when I return.
Have a safe break :)
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