Review: Through my eyes: Shahana
“Shahana” by Rosanne Hawke is the first in a series of novels set in war zones as told through the eyes of a young person. This story is set on the Pakistani-Indian border. The author spent some time in Pakistan as an aid worker, her experiences there bring a realistic authenticity to a well crafted and exciting story. In an historic postscript to the novel, Hawke explains that the conflict over sovereignty of Kashmir is the longest existing war anywhere, having commenced in 1947. As is common to most war zones, it is the children who suffer the most.
The protagonist Shahana is an orphan, living alone with her younger brother within a short walk of the Line of Control patrolled constantly by Pakistani and Indian soldiers. Being orphans, Shahana supports her fractured family by creating exquisite embroidery, her only means of financial survival.
When Shahana rescues unconscious Zahid near the border, she is thrown into a dangerous dilemma. She can’t leave him to die, but to shelter him in their humble home brings her and her brother an even great risk. To alert the authorities would bring Zahid certain imprisonment or even death. To further complicate Shahana’s life, her brother Tanveer is taken captive and into virtual slavery under the “care” of the man to whom she sells her embroidery, a man who would do anything to marry her despite the big difference in their ages.
This is a fast moving, exciting, page-turning novel with many twists in the plot. The author has drawn a range of believable characters caught in a dangerous, life-threatening situation. Life in Pakistan today is shown with all its terrible dangers and stark beauty. Highly recommended.
“Shahana” is published by Allen & Unwin.
Teachers’ notes and an interview with the author can be found here.
My next review in two days time will be of the second in this series, “Naveed” set in Afghanistan.
Disclosure: Rosanne Hawke was my supervising lecturer during the writing of my thesis novel for my Master of Arts Creative Writing degree and remains a close friend and former colleague.
Books, books, books and still more books
“So many books, so little time.” Frank Zappa
I agree.
I have so many books that my home is almost in dire need of more bookshelves. I have at least a dozen bookshelves, and still I need to make piles of them in most rooms. I keep on buying more and borrowing even more, and the piles never seem to diminish.
So, this year I have decided to make a concerted effort to reduce those piles and get to reading – and finishing – as many as possible. The delightful thing is, I will need to read, read, read for the next three to five years to make any impact on those ever growing heaps of books.
It has been suggested that I sell some of my books. That would be like plucking out my eyes. Not an option.
Oh – did I mention the boxes of books in the passage – and even more in the garage?
Sigh.
Just a small part of our library
Reading children’s literature
No Comments »28th September, 2012; Category: Books, Fiction, Novels, Picture Books, Reading, Writing for Children
One of the units of study I have lectured in at university this year has been Children’s Literature, with a particular focus on using children’s literature in the classroom. All of my students for this unit are teachers in training, all of them eager to gather ideas for incorporating literature in their future classrooms.
It has been a rewarding time for me as it has renewed my enthusiasm for reading children’s literature. When I was a classroom teacher, and earlier in my career when I was a teacher/librarian, I would regard the reading of children’s books as a professional requirement. I am a voracious reader, so this was no hardship. After one little forgettable incident, I resolved never to read a book to a class without having read it privately first. I still believe this to be a wise policy for any classroom teacher or children’s librarian.
In recent months I have read a wide variety of picture books, chapter books for emerging readers, novels for older readers and non-fiction for various year levels. Sadly, I haven’t had time to review any of them here. In time I hope to regularly get back to reviewing the books I read. In the meantime, if it has been some time since reading a children’s book, why not borrow a few from your local library? Many of the titles published in the last decade are fine examples of excellent writing; some are just as challenging to read as adult books. And often far more interesting and captivating.
If you read a good book that you’d like to recommend – children’s or other – write about it in the comments section. I’d like to know, and so would my readers, I’m sure.
Good reading – and writing.
Doing some weeding instead of writing
Red wattlebird feeding on Eremophila flowers
Gardening
Over recent days I have been spending more time out in the garden than at my computer attending to my writing. The spring weather has generally been wonderful and the spring rain a bit above average. The rain has come at about the right intervals to promote and maintain weed growth, hence the need for me to spend a great deal of time in the garden.
A big garden
Let me hasten to add that our garden is no ordinary quarter acre block common to many Australian homes. We have 5 acres (2 hectares) of land on the edge of the rural city where we live here in South Australia. It’s a challenge to look after and demands one keep on top of things.
Neglect
Sadly, the property has been quite neglected over the last 3 years while I completed my Master of Arts in Creative Writing. Now that I’ve graduated I can focus a little more on the extras – like gardening. One of the most time consuming tasks in recent weeks has been keeping on top of the weeds. We have planted many native Australian plants – like the one being enjoyed by one of our resident birds shown in the photo above. For these plants to really thrive I need to maintain a weed free zone around them. The weeds have a habit of taking over and choking out the growth.
Weeding my novel
This time last year I was doing a different kind of weeding. I was working very long hours – sometimes 10 to 12 hours a day – trying to get my novel into shape. The novel was my thesis paper for my degree and it had to be as near to perfect as possible. I spent many tiring hours weeding out all unnecessary words, phrases and even paragraphs. Every novel, short story, poem or article needs this treatment. Make every word count, weed out every lazy, useless and careless word.
You’ll stand a much better chance of getting your writing accepted for publication.
Good writing.