Very well researched tale of an Hasara family persecuted in Afghanistan and forced to flee. The flight, the arrival in Australia, the conditions and treatment in detention and the efforts to be recognised as refugees and given Australian permanent residency. Told through the eyes of the young teenage daughter and published as a young teen read; but so well told adults should read it to understand the horrors refugees live through, in their country of origin and at the hands of the Australian government. ( )

Very passionate and very much expresses the boredom, sadness, and depression of the detention centre. ( )

Young adult novel about the experience of a (fictional, but based on real-life interviews) refugee girl from Afghanistan. It tracks a family's experience through people smuggling, detention camp and finally integration into the Australian community. By and large it succeeds in its aim to put a human face on refugees, but it suffers from being slightly too long and losing narrative traction in the latter half (although the romance aspect may keep younger readers motivated through that part - it lost me as being too simplistic at that point). Also, the ending has an abrupt 'twist' which isn't well resolved and results in a rather messy conclusion - it doesn't allow time for new issues raised to be explored. But overall very readable. ( )

An extremely powerful and moving tale of Gulnessa and her family's struggle to be allowed to stay in Australia after fleeing Afghanistan. 12+

This novel is the harrowing tale of an Afghani refugee, Gulnessa, and her struggle to establish a life for herself, and her family, away from persecution in her homeland. It is the result of extensive research, Evans states that it is a story ‘derived from…composite true experiences...told by a fictitious sixteen-year-old girl’ (page 348).
The novel is told retrospectively as Nessa (Gulnessa) strives to record the journey that has brought her family to a new life in Australia. Through her memories and her recurring dreams we are shown the persecution suffered by her family, and her community. In Afghanistan, as members of the Hazara minority group. Upon fleeing the country, without her father, the family and friend Abdul must overcome a hazardous trip over the border, a plane trip to Indonesia and then a nightmare-like experience on a small fishing boat before finally landing in Australia. The family’s life savings, and that of their grandparents, pays for this horrendous journey that eventually ends in a detention centre in outback Australia. Their life, once in detention, is one of waiting until they are granted temporary visas.
Throughout this trauma the task of holding the family together falls to Nessa as detention causes a depression to descend upon her mother Fatimeh and the family are continually plagued with bad memories and a desperate concern for their future. Nessa’s life is hard, but hope is kept alive through her own personal strength and her growing, reciprocated feelings for Abdul.
This is both a personal story of survival in adversity and a political statement on the Australian governments detainment of refugees, as well as a cry for compassion.