Fiction - Age 10 and up

Australian Writer

Zana Fraillon

No Stars to Wish On

Allen & Unwin 2014  $19.99hb   167pp

ISBN 978 1 7433 1514 9

Themes:  Forgotten Children/ Nuns/ Orphanages and institutions/ Riddles and jokes

 

Jack, who tells the story, lives in an orphanage run by nuns but he knows he doesn’t belong there because he has his own loving family, his room and his well-worn book of jokes. All he wants to do is to go home. This is a haunting story based on the experiences of children(indigenous, non indigenous and migrants) who were institutionalised during the 20^th century. This happened for a number of reasons including poverty and family breakdown at a time when there was no help for families in crisis. Jack’s story which in places reads like a fable, is haunting because it must have happened to so many bewildered children. His spirit however, shines through the blackness and  the terrible trickery making this a story not easy to forget.

Year 6 up/ Age 10 up

In 2009 an official Australian government apology by the then Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, was made to people who had grown up in the institutional system, including former child migrants to Australia.