STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND GO READ THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW. I just finished it about half an hour ago and I’m reeling. Beautiful, poignant, enlightening, heartbreaking, and hopeful - this, THIS is why middle grade books should absolutely not be overlooked as worthy literature. This should sit right alongside other books shedding light on the plight of refugees and asylum seekers. This is the kind of book that helps all our hearts grow bigger - big enough to make sure that no one in this scary world is forgotten. Read it.

Haunting and unforgettable, this book stuck with me long after I was done with it. Now, 3 years after publication, it’s even more timely and necessary of a read than it was when it first was published. Humanizing the plight of refugees and asylum seekers, this book is an important read not just for the Young audience it was written for, but for all of us. The characters are fleshed out and Engage the reader’s interest.

Published in 2016, I can't help but feel the author was startingly prescient. This book is far more relevant here, in 2019, than it was even in 2016.

It is an achingly beautiful story from the perspective of a child in a refugee camp in Australia. Depictions of life inside the camp are honest and brutal, but there is a hopefulness depicted within the character of Rohingya. His relationships are presented in a realistic way and the reader is presented with an authentic picture of what life for Rohingya (and other refugees) is like.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in this topic or to parents trying to help their own children understand current events more.

devastating. tragic. and the most needed story in America right now.

beautifully written, incredible message of love and hope while remaining to keep the somber and tragic truth visible in the forefront.

I tried reading it, and I reached 60% before I went ahead and gave up. Middle grade books that aren’t fantasy have turned out not to be my type of book. I couldn’t follow along with the story, I just got bored. Thank you for sending this to me.

This book makes me hate humans. This is a horrible book because humans can be terrible. The book is actually incredible, not horrible. I think everyone in our world needs to read this book.

Powerful, well written, and very important for our kids to read.

Subhi is born in a refugee in an interment camp. He has never seen the outside world. He has no books, no school, and not enough food, water, or clothes.

Every once in a while I stumble on a book that totally takes me by surprise. One that I haven’t heard anything about. A book that you had no idea would be so meaningful, impactful, wonderful, and life changing. One that rips out your heart, and in the process makes you a totally different person. ‘The Bone Sparrow’ is definitely one of those books. I had absolutely no idea what ‘The Bone Sparrow’ was about going in to it. Right before I started reading it, I read over the synopsis, so I had a vague idea that it was about a refuge. I was not at all prepared for the punch that ‘The Bone Sparrow’ gave me.

First thing is that Subhi is only ten years old. Honestly, the story did seem as if it is being told by a ten-year old. As the mother of three kids around this age, I am stunned at what Sushi had to endure. Lack of enough food, clothes, water, places to bath, a school, or even a home (they live in tents) is all part of Sushi’s life. It was all so absolutely heartbreaking. This is especially true when you find out that Subhi was born in the camp ten years ago and has never left. Despite his family being in the camp for ten years, the Australian government has no plans on what to do with them.
Sushi’s story leads you to think, ‘how can this have ever happened’. Then you realize, omg, this isn’t the distant past, this is present day Australia. The fact that Subhi doesn’t know any better and just loves the life he leads, is just gut wrenching.

Subhi makes up for many of the things he is missing in his life (like toys and books) by using his imagination. Every night he imagines a night sea lapping up against the tent flaps. The sea brings creatures and treasures with it. The way that Fraillon describes the Night Sea is so vivid and detailed, that you can actually feel the sea breeze and hear the tide.

Subhi as a character is dead-on with a child his age. He is full of wonder and love and imagination. The character of Subhi’s mother is not always endearing but holds true to what an adult would be going through in her situation. I did also love Sushi’s sister, as she is mean to him at times but truly loves him. I also appreciate that one of the jackets (guards) as Subhi called them, was kind to him. This demonstrates that the guards in the camp are not all stereotypically bad people. Subhi’s relationship with the girl he meets, Jimmie, serves to give Subhi hope and a glance at the outside world. Jimmie has suffered her own tragedy and together her and Subhi form a bond. Each child helps the other move on with their lives.

In many ways, ‘The Bone Sparrow’ reminds me of one of my favorite books of all time, ‘The Storyteller’, by Jodi Picoult. Both books entwine a present day story with an original fairytale. The fairytale captures part of the ordeal that the character in the main story is going through.


Although the ending of, ‘The Bone Sparrow’ did not wrap up as I would have liked, it did give the message that hope can be the greatest gift of all. The theme of ‘The Bone Sparrow’, is a timely topic. It definitely made me rethink how I view refugees. It is a multilayered, timely, and soul-searching read. It is one of the most under hyped books I’ve ever read. Everyone, absolutely everyone, needs to read this book now.

This was a very powerful and well-written story on an important theme. It well deserves the attention that it has been receiving.

Thank you for the chance to review this book, however, unfortunately, I was unable to download this title before it was archived

Subhi's world in the Australian detention center reminds us that even though we aren't always watching, life goes on for the people with-in the walls. What would life be like if you had never been beyond the perimeter? How do you even begin to imagine the sea your mother tells you of? Can you even begin to comprehend it, much less have it invade your dreams? As Subhi befriends Jimmie, who seems almost to be as imaginary as the sea from his mother's stories. Subhi and Jimmie must find a way to declare that they are real and that they matter through their bravery.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC copy, the opinions are my own.

This book was so hard to read but in the best way possible. It carries such a heavy topic within its pages but is an absolute joy to read in the most heartbreaking way. The world is so broken and this book just emphasized that. The world needs more books like this.

This is such a sad story. And what is even sadder is that real things like this are happening to people right now in many places in the world. Subhi was born in an Australian refugee center where people who have fled from atrocities in their home countries are treated like prisoners. While his story is fiction, the conditions in the Australian refugee detention center are horrible and the country has made it illegal for people to report about what goes on in them. Refugees are treated horribly there and in other places in the world, with many countries, including the US, either holding them in prisons or detention centers or refusing to allow them into the country so they die in boats at sea. The book is suitable for grades 5 and up. I think that it is an important issue and this book helps bring it to light.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to preview this ARC of The Bone Sparrow.

This is a story about Subhi, who lives in a refugee detention center in Australia. Subhi doesn't know much about life outside the walls of the refugee because it is the place of his birth. During his short life he has become familiar with hunger, robbery, and the loss of loved ones.

In this story Subhi makes an unlikely friendship with Jimmie, a girl with an adventurous spirit who finds a weak spot in a fence to sneak in. Through these visits Subhi and Jimmie find comfort through stories and family mythology. They also find themselves through their selfless acts of bravery.

This was such a sweet and sad tale about what it must be like to live in a refuge detention center. I can't for one second imagine what it must be like to feel constantly displaced even if you are where you have always been. I loved the whimsical writing, I believe it lightens the subject matter up enough that the YA population could read it and appreciate what so many people RIGHT NOW are going through.

This is one of the best books I have read this year!

This was a wonderful and heartbreaking story. An important one for adult and young readers. The Bone Sparrow is one of my favorite kinds of books...one in which I am enthralled in the story but I also learn something new, my eyes are opened to something I was not aware.

This is a sad book, but not without hope. If follows the life of a ten year old refugee boy from Burma (now Myanmar) born in a refugee camp in Australia. He forges an unlikely friendship with a girl from the outside. I had no idea that refugees in Australia are held indefinitely with no hope of release.

I found this book sad, especially in light of the problems of so many of the world who are now in similar situations across the world.

The Bone Sparrow, set in Austrailia, follows a 10-year-old boy named Subhi, who was born in a detention camp for refugees. He lives there with his mother and sister, (named) Queeny, who fled Burma years ago. The camp seems bleak and is monitored by multiple cameras and “jackets”, the nickname Subhi gives to the enforcers who are in charge. The weather is blazing hot, the food provisions are poor, and the people lack basic necessities in order to live.

The novel is told in two different point of views. Our main character Subhi, has a very vivid imagination which allows him to escape the realities of the camp he is trapped aside. He also seeks friendship in his “brother”, Eli, who always has his back and takes care of him. The two are inseparable. Jimmie, our other main character, is a girl (similar to Subhi’s age) who lives outside the detention center. Though she lives with her dad and brother, she is very lonely. She has moved from place to place throughout her childhood since her mother’s death at a young age. From her mother’s absence she tries to fill an empty void.

After Jimmie’s and Subhi’s initial meeting in the camp, their friendship grows. Jimmie sneaks into the center and lets Subhi reads the stories she can’t. In turn, Jimmie shares her out stories of the “outside world”, giving Subhi the hope that one day he will be free. The two share a special bond and throughout the story their friendship helps to ease the emptiness inside of them.

I sought out this story initially because of the topics that were discussed in this book. It’s a very timely novel, that deals with refugee crisis that we constantly seek in the news.It touches on the horrible conditions of detention camps among other issues. Fraillon mixes a heavy dose of fictional characters with a harsh realty in order to create an important story. Reading the point of the story where Subhi finally comes to the realization that he is unwanted certain multiple events occur, had me in tears.

The book’s plot has an overall smooth progression and the writing style is a bit unique. At times the writing was a bit jarring and that took away from the story, but other than that this book was solid. The Bone Sparrow raises awareness about human rights issues that need to be heard. Though it’s sometimes difficult to read these types of narratives, stories like these are essential to literature in order to educate ourselves.

This book is very serious. It addresses a very serious matter-the lives of refugees -so it is fitting how dark and depressing this book can be. It is so well written that it tears at your heart and opens your eyes wide. Honestly, I lean toward happy and fun reads. But sometimes its important to step out of your comfort zone and become aware of life in ways that you didn't understand before. This book does that. It makes you see and feel the injustice of it all.