This was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it. thanks for letting me have an advance copy. I'm new to this author.

In an effort to be honest with myself and my own reading habits, I have to admit defeat with this one. I was curious about the premise and was interested in reading more by an author I'd previously enjoyed ... but I've had this book for many months and it has gone unread. Something about the book, something about the ways I choose my next read ... meant that this book has gone overlooked for far too long.

In keeping with my new pledge to read more diverse books, with stories that need to be told, Zana Fraillon's 'The Bone Sparrow' felt like the ideal choice. It's a story that resonates, particularly during today's refugee crisis and I found it interesting that it was set in Australia as I recently spoke with an Australian colleague of mine about just how hard it is to get into Australia, even if you're white and privileged. The focus of the novel was on far less fortunate refugees, the Rohingya people, and their lives inside an Australian Detention centre. Honestly, it was one of the most appalling living conditions I've ever read about, eerily similar to Nazi concentration camps in many aspects, and it revealed to me the true extent of my ignorance because until reading this book I had never heard of the Rohingya people or their plight.

Fans of 'The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas' will love this book as it's told from a dual perspective, a young boy (Subhi) inside the camp and a young, free but poor Australian girl (Jimmie) on the outside who meet up and become friends. Neither really understands the other's life and while some will say that the ending here is more hopeful and far less tragic, I still felt the emotional blow. Fraillon did a wonderful job of building the tension and unrest within the camp through Subhi's eyes and every time I picked it up to read, I had a hard time putting it down again. She also really highlighted just how terrible things are in these places for people that are, like anyone would be, trying to find a safe place for their families to live. I recoiled while reading the afterword and learning more about the Rohingya people and the detention centres they and thousands of refugees are kept in, including detention centres in my own country, the UK. Absolutely horrific.

This is an absolute eye-opener of a book in my opinion and while I had a few issues with the pacing and some of the character development, it did feel like it trod that fine line between middle grade and YA. I feel it's important that children are educated on these issues from an early age and so I really appreciate what Fraillon has managed to craft here. Books like this should be everywhere, and I hope that this will be one of many that shed some light on the horrors of the Refugee crisis so that they are never forgotten about. It's powerful stuff.