Boy overboard: The play

Adapted for the stage by Patricia Cornelius from Morris Gleitzman’s best-selling novel, Boy Overboard depicts a deeply human side of the ‘asylum seekers’ issue by following the journey of Jamal and Bibi from Afghanistan to Australia.
Their dream is to play soccer for Australia in the next World Cup. Before they reach Australia though, they must face landmines, pirates, storms and assassins.
Based on real life events, this is a moving play about young people overcoming the confusion of war, politics and the search for a safe haven.

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Chinese Cinderella – Adeline Yen Mah

Adeline Yen Mah is born into an affluent and powerful family in China, but her life is made miserable from the moment she is born. After her mother dies giving birth to her, Adeline’s family labels her “bad luck,” causing her to grow up with the guilt that she alone is responsible for her mother’s death. Things at home get even worse when Adeline’s father remarries. Restricted to one small area of the house, Adeline and her natural siblings are mistreated while their stepbrother and stepsister receive special treatment. An outstanding student and the winner of many academic awards, Adeline revels in the praise she receives from her Aunt Baba and grandfather, Ye Ye, and lives with the hope that her father might someday be proud of her.

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Boy overboard – Morris Gleitzman

Jamal loves playing football, which isn’t easy is your goalie only has one leg

and you keep having to dodge landmines to get your ball back.

Jamal’s stubborn little sister, Bibi, is even better at football than Jamal.

But girls playing football is against the law in Afghanistan.

When it is discovered that Jamal’s mother has been secretly running a school,

the family must leave their home immediately and begin a long and dangerous journey to Australia.

The children survive separation from their parents, hunger, and violent smugglers

only to find that Australia isn’t as welcoming as they had thought but, even though they face an uncertain future,

Jamal, Bibi and their parents know that as long as they are together, that is all that matters.

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Whale rider (movie)

Anna and the French kiss – Stephanie Perkins

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris–until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all…including a serious girlfriend.

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

Good Reads

Whale rider – Witi Ihimaera

Eight-year-old Kahu, a member of the Maori tribe of Whangara, New Zealand, fights to prove her love, her leadership, and her destiny. Her people claim descent from Kahutia Te Rangi, the legendary “whale rider.” In every generation since Kahutia, a male heir has inherited the title of chief. But now there is no male heir, and the aging chief is desperate to find a successor. Kahu is his only great-grandchild–and Maori tradition has no use for a girl. But when hundreds of whales beach themselves and threaten the future of the Maori tribe, it is Kahu who saves the tribe when she reveals that she has the whale rider’s ancient gift of communicating with whales.

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Fantastic Fiction

Growing up Asian in Australia – Alice Pung

Asian-Australians have often been written about by outsiders, as outsiders. In this collection, compiled by award-winning author Alice Pung, they tell their own stories with verve, courage and a large dose of humour.

They tell tales of leaving home, falling in love, coming out and finding one’s feet. A young Cindy Pan vows to win every single category of Nobel Prize. Tony Ayres blows a kiss to a skinhead and lives to tell the tale. Benjamin Law has a close encounter with some angry Australian fauna, and Kylie Kwong makes a moving pilgrimage to her great-grandfather’s Chinese village.