Challenging Content: Suicides, Mistreatment of asylum seekers ( )

This fictional account of life in an Australian permanent detention center explores the issues facing refugees in a powerful but accessible fashion. This is the kind of book that spurs people to fight for change. Includes Foreword, Afterword.

fiction (children's middlegrade? /teen / adult) - harshness of refugee camps
The families in this story are of a Muslim minority fleeing persecution in Burma/Myanmar, living in a refugee camp in Australia (where they are not really wanted and are neglected), but their culture or religion isn't really a part of this story--just that they came from a different place where they spoke a different language. The families in this story could be refugees from ANYWHERE, trying to eke out an existence in a refugee camp ANYWHERE (conditions may vary from place to place, but I'm guessing most of them would pose a significant concern for human rights).

YOU WILL CRY SO HARD. I don't know that I'd give this to an actual child because YOU WILL CRY SO HARD, and there is a scene that is 10x more intense and traumatic than I was expecting, but it is a really good book. ( )

I adored this book. It was a beautiful story with rich characters, figurative language, and an immensely challenging subject. Subhi, one of two story narrators, is a member of the Rohingya minority. He was born far away from home in an Australian detention center. In many ways he rises up above his everyday world of razor wire and dust with an incredible imagination, sense of humor, and childhood wonder. It was a touching story with memorable characters as well as conflicts. Subhi's dreams in his waking hours and his sleep inform his world and one day the tide pulls in an unfamiliar figure, Jimmie. It is never stated, but Jimmie is most likely Australian. Her mother passed away, leaving a collection of stories. Together Subhi and Jimmie form a close bond, sharing stories and forming new ones. The stories merge with the reality and like any good surrealist work you end up unsure what is fact and what is fiction in the most beautiful way. Subhi is not forcibly optimistic, but finds ways to contend with his reality. As he observes, his people are not wanted in Burma and they're not wanted here. Despite his stories, imaginations, and drawings he is not unaware of his circumstances, making him all the more admirable. This was one of the more memorable books I've read in a long time. ( )

I don’t even know where to start with this devastating, yet enchanting story. Suhbi was born and raised in an Australian Detention Centre. All he knows is life within four walls (chain-linked fences) and to follow the rules of the Jackets (enforcers). He copes with remembering stories his mother told before she got sick, gifts from the Night Sea, and his talking, plastic Shakespeare duck. Until Jimmie breaks into the centre, and they become fast friends. Jimmie has her own problems at home, including not being able to read her late mother's notebook. Suhbi reads from the book, telling her the tales of her ancestors. In between the time when the children can meetup and escape into the stories, tension grows in the detention centre and eventually comes to a breaking point.


Both Suhbi and Jimmie have the same, simple hope - for love from your family and to know that you do exist.


A children’s book that can change anyone's perspective; children and adults alike. I highly, highly recommend reading this, since even as a fictionalized account, 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. This book brought to light this horrific issue, and my own awareness of my ignorance. I spent hours after finishing this short book researching the issue, and what can be done to fix this. Truly heartbreaking.
Read diverse. Read about different cultures. Read authors from a different country then yours. It might not fix the issues, but awareness is the first step.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an unbiased review. ( )