Please welcome Melissa Keil with her list of 8 Australian Multicultural YA Books! We are also giving away a copy of her book.
Please fill out the Rafflecopter at the bottom to enter.
8 Australian Multicultural YA Books & Giveaway!
1. Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta
Josie Alibrandi navigates life with her wealthy Catholic school peers and her Italian-Australian family, while dealing with the reappearance of her estranged father, and the complexities of romance. With a wonderfully realized protagonist and heartfelt prose, Alibrandi is a modern Australian YA classic. [young adult, ages 13 and up]
2. Laurinda (published in the US as Lucy and Linh) by Alice Pung
At an exclusive private school for girls, Lucy Lam enrolls as a scholarship student, finding herself tangling with a group of girls known as the Cabinet, who wield extraordinary influence over their peers and teachers. Timely and relevant YA that tackles the thorny issues of power, privilege, class and race. [young adult, ages 14 and up]
3. Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Sixteen-year-old Amal decides to adopt the hijab full time, and deals with the repercussions from her schoolmates, parents and friends. With a great voice in the character of Amal, this book is a funny and moving look at confronting stereotypes and staying true to yourself. [young adult, ages 12 and up]
4. The First Third by Will Kostakis
When Billy Tsiolkas Yiayia falls ill, she challenges him to fulfil a list of tasks to unite their splintering family. Laugh-out-loud funny and with a tonne of fabulous, diverse characters, including one of my favourite YA families. [young adult, ages 13 and up]
5. Hate is Such a Strong Word by Sarah Ayoub
Sophie is caught between her traditional Lebanese family, changes in her friendships, and the new boy who challenges her prejudices and assumptions. This is a wonderfully warm novel about family, forging your own identity and finding your place in the world. [young adult, ages 12 and up]
6. The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon
Eight-year-old Subhi is a refugee who has spent his entire life at an immigration detention centre. Jimmie is a wayward child from the other side of the fence, who appears with a notebook she can’t read written by her deceased mother. The Bone Sparrow is a powerful and heartbreaking novel that transcends categorization, and that can be read by people of any age. [chapter book, ages 10 and up]
7. Becoming Kirrali Lewis by Jane Harrison
Kiralli, and Aboriginal girl adopted by a white family, moves from her rural home town to the city for university and law school, sparking a series of events that force her to confront her own identity and politics. Set between the 1960s and 1980s, Kirrali Lewis is a coming-of-age story that resonates with issues of the current day. [young adult, ages 13 and up]
8. The Secret Science of Magic by Melissa Keil
Sophia is a Sri Lankan-Australian math protégée with an eidetic memory and – until recently – an insatiable drive for achievement. But as high school draws to a close she is facing the prospect of a future that is anything but guaranteed, and her anxieties about her own abilities are reaching a peak. Joshua is a magic-obsessed, laid-back loner, with no plans for his future – other than to catch the eye of Sophia, who he has had a crush on for forever. My novel is a romantic comedy about finding your way, finding someone who’ll embrace your eccentricities, and accepting the possibility of failure. [young adult, ages 12 and up]
The Secret Science of Magic Giveaway
We are also giving away a copy of The Secret Science of Magic. Please fill out the Rafflecopter below to enter. We can only ship to U.S. addresses.
Melissa Keil is the author of The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl which made the Inky Awards 2015 shortlist. The awards are presented by the Centre for Youth Literature at the State Library of Victoria for local and international fiction, poetry, anthologies and graphic novels written for young adults.
To learn more, please visit her website, Facebook, and Twitter.
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8 Australian Multicultural YA Books & Giveaway!8 Australian Multicultural YA Books & Giveaway!
The first I remember reading were by Janet Lambert about an anglo family living in Haiti. I would have to re-read them, because I’m sure they reflected their times (they were written in the 1960’s) but they were also ahead of their time in making people aware of the island of Haiti as a place with a vibrant culture to be respected and people who worked harder than most Americans could ever imagine doing. As I recall, the anglo characters related to the Haitian characters without prejudice or condescension, very unusual for the time.
Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham.
And anything by Pam Munoz Ryan.
I don’t really read YA books…but I have a 9 year old who will be reading them soon. It’s never too early to have some books on hand!