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BfK No. 151 - March 2005

Cover Story
This issue’s cover illustration is from Grace Nichols’ Everybody Got a Gift. Grace Nichols is interviewed by Morag Styles. Thanks to A & C Black for their help with this March cover.

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Girl Underground

Morris Gleitzman
(Puffin)
204pp, 978-0141319001, RRP £6.99, Paperback
10-14 Middle/Secondary
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Briget White is sent away to boarding school. She finds it hard to fit in, and is scared to tell her best friend, Menzies, that her family are criminals - he is a politician's son after all. But Menzies is having a hard time with his parents too. His father won't take any notice of the plight of Jamal and Bibi, a young brother and sister from Afghanistan trapped in an Australian detention centre. So when all else fails, Bridget and Menzies set out on a dangerous rescue mission. A brilliant read, this touching story uses adventure and humour to tackle a tough issue - so be prepared to answer a few serious questions from its young readers about right and wrong, refugees and detention centres. Luckily, there are some excellent teachers' notes to accompany the book on www.puffin.com.au that provide a detailed historical background to the political situation regarding asylum seekers in Australia. The story is told by Bridget, and her first-person narrative draws the reader in from the very first line. The book is packed with a variety of colourful characters, and Gleitzman cleverly juxtaposes the warmth of Bridget's criminal family against the coldness of Menzies' law-abiding parents without hammering the point home. Girl Underground is described as a companion book to Boy Overboard. Both books are self-contained, and the stories work equally well whichever is read first.

Reviewer: 
Susan Goodsall
5
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