Book Review: The Bone Sparrow

The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon is the story Subhi, a refugee born in an Australian permanent detention center after his mother and sister fled the violence of their homeland. Subhi’s world is only what he knows inside the fence of the detention center, but his imagination allows him to escape every night.

One night Subhi, meets Jimmie a girl on the other side of the fence who will turn his world upside down and make him think about the future in way he’s never done before.

Armed with a journal of her mother’s Jimmie befriends Subhi in the hopes of learning more about her mother and finally find the comfort that has been missing since her death.

This is an eye-opening and heartbreaking tale of hope in even the most hopeless of places as Fraillon describes life in a place most of us have never even thought about. This would be a great story to use as jumping off point for discussion about immigration, a refugee’s experience and current events for middle grade readers. I’ll be honest, this book was difficult for me to read, there were times I read as tears streamed down my face and anger filled my heart for people who could be treated in such a way, but these are books that have to be written, so that the world knows the stories.

Twitter Booktalk (140 characters or less): Subhi knows only the refugee camp where he was born, but when Jimmie appears on the other side of the fence, his world changes.

Title: The Bone Sparrow
Author: Zana Fraillon
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: November 2016
Page Number: 228 pgs.