Nation – Terry Pratchett

When a giant wave destroys his village, Mau is the only one left of his nation. He’s completely alone — or so he thinks until he finds the ghost girl. She has no toes, wears strange lacy trousers, and gives him a stick that can make fire. Daphne, sole survivor of the wreck of the Sweet Judy, almost immediately regrets trying to shoot the native boy. Thank goodness the powder was wet and the gun only produced a spark. She’s certain her father, distant cousin of the Royal family, will come and rescue her but it seems, for now, that all she has for company is the boy and the foul-mouthed ship’s parrot, until other survivors arrive to take refuge on the island. Together, Mau and Daphne discover some remarkable things and start to forge a new nation.

If You Could Be Mine – Sara Farizan

Seventeen-year-old Sahar has been in love with her best friend, Nasrin, since they were six. They’ve shared stolen kisses and romantic promises. But Iran is a dangerous place for two girls in love–Sahar and Nasrin could be beaten, imprisoned, even executed. So they carry on in secret until Nasrin’s parents suddenly announce that they’ve arranged for her marriage. Then Sahar discovers what seems like the perfect solution: homosexuality may be a crime, but to be a man trapped in a woman’s body is seen as nature’s mistake, and sex reassignment is legal and accessible. Sahar will never be able to love Nasrin in the body she wants to be loved in without risking their lives, but is saving their love worth sacrificing her true self?

A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story – Linda Sue Park

A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan, a girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the “lost boys” of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.

Linda Sue Park’s website.

Linda Sue Park discusses A Long Walk to Water:

The best day of my life – Deborah Ellis

Valli spends her days picking up coal to support her family. She is not allowed to go to school and there is never enough food in her house. When Valli discovers that the ‘aunt’ she has lived with for as long as she can remember is not really her aunt Valli runs away to Kolkata, a nearby city in eastern India. While living on the streets in Kolkata Valli is very resourceful and so she manages to survive. Near the river one day Valli meets a doctor who notices Valli’s feet. Valli has thought that she had magic feet because she never feels pain in them, but the doctor recognises the signs of leprosy.

I Am Malala – Malala Yousafzai

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. In 2012 when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive. Malala’s miraculous recovery has seen her become an inspiration around the world, a champion of girls’ education and a symbol of peaceful protest. At sixteen she became the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize.

The current

Shahana – Rosanne Hawke

A story about Shahana and her young brother Tanveer who live close to the ‘Line of Control’ that separates Kashmir into the Pakistani and Indian controlled sectors.  Shahana and Tanveer are orphans of the conflict and develop close bonds with other children who are also adversely impacted by the events around them.

Booktopia

On Two Feet and Wings – Abbas Kazerooni

This is the amazing true story of Abbas Kazerooni who grew up in Tehran at the time of the Iran Iraq war. When he was nine years old the age of recruitment into the army was reduced to ten. In an attempt to keep him safe his family sent him away. But events didn’t go to plan and Abbas found himself alone in the strange and frightening city of Istanbul. Unable to speak the language, Abbas had to learn to survive, to judge who was friend or enemy, while hoping for his dream visa to England.

Angus & Robertson

Homeless Bird – Gloria Whelan

A beautiful and affecting story of redemption and hope: Homeless Bird is a coming of age story with a difference. Thirteen-year-old Koly lives in a poor Indian village and her family doesn’t have enough food to go round. Married off to a sixteen-year-old boy, she faces her future with hope and courage. But things soon go tragically wrong. Her husband is not what she believed he would be and she is soon up against the traditions of her society.

Harper Collins

Words in the dust – Trent Reedy

A portrait of Afghanistan through the eyes of one brave girl, Zulaikha.  She hopes for peace, now that the Taliban have been driven from Afghanistan; a good relationship with her difficult stepmother; and one day even to go to school, or to have her cleft palate fixed. In the meantime, with the support of her father and sister, Zulaikha knows all will be provided for her — “Inshallah,” God willing.  Then she meets Meena, who offers to teach her Afghan poetry, and the Americans come to their village, promising not just new opportunities and dangers, but surgery to fix her face. These changes could mean a whole new life for Zulaikha.

Inspired by a girl whom the author met in Afghanistan, this is not only a fascinating portrait of life in a country we hear about, yet rarely see from inside.

Fluttering butterflies

A ghost in my suitcase – Gabrielle Wang

Lost and insecure, Celeste goes on a sad mission to China: taking her mother’s ashes home. Staying with her grandmother, PorPor, she comes to learn much about her Chinese heritage and to feel loved again. However, she also learns about an unexpected family tradition: ghost hunting. Does she have the strength and courage to help her grandmother against their nemesis? A fast paced adventure which is easy to read.

Penguin Books

A little piece of ground – Elizabeth Laird

Life under Israeli occupation isn’t easy for twelve-year-old Palestinian Karim and his friends. They need a place of escape, so they transform a little piece of ground in Ramallah into a soccer field where they can get away from family problems and the trials of occupation. However, the escape doesn’t last long with the town put under yet another Israeli curfew, and Karim – who only dreams of a little freedom – becomes a victim of the brutality of the occupying force who poses a constant danger, even to schoolboys.

Sharp

Refugee boy – Benjamin Zephaniah

Based on the bitter conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, this story revolves around fourteen-year-old Alem who is taken to England on a ‘holiday’ by his father for protection. Left there alone, as his Ethiopian father goes back to look for his Eritrean mother, Alem is forced through the courts and the foster system with the hope of gaining political asylum. The difficulties he faces underscore the tragic circumstances which often frequent the lives of asylum seekers, and demonstrate the courage and humanity of individuals like Alem.

My school bookclub

Little paradise – Gabrielle Wang

Inspired by a true story, Little Paradise opens in Melbourne in 1943, where seventeen-year-old protagonist Mirabel is leaving school and dreaming of life as a dress designer. She meets and falls in love with JJ – an officer working for the Chinese government. However, their forbidden affair is discovered by her father and soon after he is posted back to Shanghai. As Mirabel travels to China to find him, readers are afforded a fascinating view into life at this time in both Australia and China through the effortlessly intertwinned stories of the richly depicted characters.

Gabrielle Wang

Blood Ninja – Nick Lake

Taro has been raised to believe he is a simple fisherman’s son. However, this action packed story opens with Taro – who wants to be a samurai – seeing ninjas attack his home and murder his father. Saved by a good ninja, Shusaku, he and his best friend Haro find themselves on an unexpected adventure. The underlying premise of the story is that ninjas are actually vampires and that is what Taro becomes. Set in 16th century Japan, this is an unexpected blend of fantasy and historical fiction – which has some fairly extreme violence, but also ends with Taro learning some important lessons.

The Book Zone (for boys)

Dancing in the dark – Robyn Bavati

Ditty is a good Jewish girl who has always followed her parent’s wishes. But when she sees classical ballet on TV and asks her parents if she can learn, they refuse: it is immodest and will not make her a better person. Ditty sneaks off to take a free lesson and is soon hooked – she feels she was born to dance. This story is all about following your dreams and how sometimes we question the faith and expectations of our family.

Penguin Books

Lost riders – Elizabeth Laird

This harrowing story tells of the experiences of children taken as riders into the lucrative world of Dubai’s camel racing. Exploited, almost starved and essentially treated as a slave, a young Pakistani boy, Rashid is actually one of the lucky ones. He has a skill for camel riding and soon becomes the top jockey in his stable. Soon, he begins to even forget his brother Shari – also taken into this ruthless world to ride the dangerous animals. This story is based on real recent events, with the treatment of camel riders a cause for international condemnation of Dubai – a fascinating read.

QBD

Keeper – Mal Peet

This is the story of how a boy from a poor village on the edge of a South American rainforest grew up to become “El Gato” (The Cat), a famous goal keeper in a World Cup winning team. Of how as a young, gangly boy he got tired of sitting on the sidelines and so went off exploring in the rainforest where he came across a hidden soccer field. And of an apparition that appeared and over many months taught him to become the greatest goalkeeper ever known. Not just an enthralling soccer story, this is also a story about family, a ghost story, an environmental story and ultimately a mystery. Just who is the mysterious coach?

YALITFAN

Marrying Ameera – Rosanne Hawke

Seventeen-year-old Ameera is caught between two cultures. Living in Australia with her Australian Christain mother and her Pakistani Muslim father, she has been brought up as a Muslim. When her father hears of her growing friendship with Tariq, her best friend′s older brother, he sends her to stay with his family in Kashmir and to attend her cousin Jamila′s wedding. Only when she gets there does Ameera discover the devastating truth – the intended marriage is not Jamila′s but her own!

Will Ameera be trapped forever or will she gain her freedom?

My Girl Friday

The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini

Amir is the son of a wealthy businessman in Kabul, and Hassan is the son of Amir’s father’s servant. As children the boys are inseparable. They spend idyllic days running kites and telling stories until an unspeakable event changes their lives and friendship forever. When the Soviets invade Afghanistan Amir and his father flee to America, but Amir remains haunted by his cowardly actions and the memory of Hassan. Set in war-torn Afghanistan this is a heartbreaking story of betrayal and redemption, friendship and loyalty, and the bonds between fathers and sons.

Word Power Books

Diego, Run! – Deborah Ellis

For twelve-year-old Diego, home is a prison in Cochabamba. His parents are locked up, but he is free to come and go: to school, to the market and to work as a ‘taxi’ running errands for other prisoners. But when his little sister runs away and his mother receives a heavy fine, Diego has to make money, fast.
Recommended age: 12+

Allen & Unwin

Mahtab’s story – Libby Gleeson

The vivid and compelling story of Mahtab, a young girl fleeing Afghanistan with her family, and their journey to Australia. Inspired by a true story.
Recommended age: 12+

Nayu’s Reading Corner

Mao’s last dancer – Li Cunxin

This is the amazing true story of Li Cunxin. The sixth son of a peasant family Li was born in China in 1961 into extreme poverty. At the age of 11 Li gets a chance to escape a life of hardship when he is chosen to study ballet at the Beijing Dance Academy. Be inspired by how Li overcomes loneliness and a grueling training program to become a famous dancer on the world stage.
Recommended age: 12+

Jabberwocky

Little soldier – Bernard Ashley

Kaninda sees his family murdered in a brutal attack on his village in Africa. Seeking revenge against the enemy tribe he joins the rebel army. But then he is captured by aid workers and sent to London to start a new life with another family. Here he is caught up in the gang warfare of the streets, while desperately trying to find a way to return to his own war in Africa. Danger lies waiting around every corner in this gripping and moving story.
Recommended age: 13+

Tesco Books

First they killed my father – Loung Ung

Loung Ung is a survivor of Cambodia’s Pol Pot regime. One of seven children Loung lived a privileged life in Phnom Penh. Then, in 1975 when she was five, the Khmer Rouge army stormed into the city, forcing Loung’s family to flee. Loung’s autobiography is a harrowing account of unspeakable cruelty. Her siblings were sent to labor camps while Loung was trained as a child soldier. Despite all the horrors they endured Loung’s family never stopped fighting to escape and to find each other again.
Recommended age: 14+

Webster University

Secrets in the fire – Henning Mankell

A deeply moving and unforgettable novel based on the true story of a young girl in war-torn Mozambique. Sofia loses half her family and has both her legs amputated after a landmine accident.
Recommended age: 13+

Henning Mankell

Parvana’s journey – Deborah Ellis

Parvana is a 13 year-old girl searching for her family during the Afghanistan war. Along her journey she encounters sadness, danger, loss and bravery.
Recommended age: 11+

Wheelers

Chinese Cinderella – Adeline Yen Mah

When Adeline Yen Mah’s mother died giving birth to her, the family considered Adeline bad luck and she was made to feel unwanted all her life. This is the true story of her struggle for acceptance and her triumph against almost overwhelming odds.
Recommended age: 13+

Infibeam.com

Desert flower – Waris Dirie

This is the amazing story of Waris Dirie. Born a Somalian nomad, Waris was circumcised at 5, fled an arranged marriage at 12, became a supermodel in her teens and is now an ambassador for the United Nations.  Be inspired by this story of courage and survival in two completely different worlds.
Recommended age: 15+

Alice’s writers block

Where the streets had a name – Randa Abdel-Fattah

Thirteen-year-old Hayaat is a Muslin Palestinian girl living in Bethlehem. When Hayaat’s grandmother becomes ill, Hayaat believes a handful of soil from her grandmother’s ancestral home in Jerusalem will save her life. Together with her best friend Samy, Hayaat embarks on the short but dangerous journey to Jerusalem. They must pass through armed checkpoints and find a way around the impenetrable wall that divides the West Bank. Told from the point of view of the displaced this is a moving story of family, loss and heartache.
Recommended age: 12+

Borders

Sold – Patricia McCormick

Lakshmi is a young, innocent girl living in the mountains of Nepal. When her stepfather tells her she must leave the village to work in the city to help her desperately poor family survive, she goes willingly. But Lakshmi has been deceived – she has been sold into prostitution – a nightmare from which there is no escape. This harrowing story, told simply in the words of Lakshmi, is one you won’t forget.
Recommended age: 15+

Fantastic fiction

Go and come back – Joan Abelove

Two white women go to live in a village deep in the rainforests of Peru. The story is told through the eyes of one of the tribe’s women. They find the ways of the white women strange and funny.
Recommended age: 13+

Longitude books

Daughter of the wind – Suzanne Fisher Staples

A wonderful story of a courageous young girl growing up in the rigidly controlled society of the desert people in Pakistan.  The sequel is ‘Haveli’.
Recommended age: 13+

Infibeam

The Heaven shop – Deborah Ellis

Set in the African nation of Malawi, this is the story of 13 year old Binti Phiri. Binti, as one of the stars on a radio program, thinks life is pretty good. But then her father dies from AIDS and Binti and her brother and sister join the growing mass of AIDS orphans. This is a moving story of the hardships the siblings face and Binti’s desire to reunite her family and find hope among the despair.
Recommended age: 12+

Allen & Unwin

Parvana – Deborah Ellis

This novel explores life in Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban. Parvana is 11 years old when her father is taken prisoner and she becomes responsible for her family’s survival. Parvana must disguise herself as a boy and go out into the streets to work, where she encounters danger, hardship and violence.
Recommended age: 11+

Latrobe University

The ivory trail – Victor Kelleher

Jamie is a channeler. While in a trance he can contact the spirits of the dead and through them relive experiences in their lives. The spirits take him on a journey to different countries, different time periods and different cultures. This is a fascinating story made up of a series of exotic tales, which reveal mysterious clues that Jamie and the reader must piece together.
Recommended age: 13+

Fantastic fiction

The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian – Sherman Alexie

Arnold is a Native American boy growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation where he gets beaten up for being a skinny kid in glasses. In search of a better life Arnold leaves the rez to attend the rich white school miles away, where the only other Indian is the school mascot, and where he is also a target. This is an honest and funny story about a boy with great spirit and courage determined to escape the life he was destined to live.

Inside a dog