Kirjailijakuva

Ele Fountain

Teoksen Refugee 87 tekijä

6 teosta 100 jäsentä 6 arvostelua

Tekijän teokset

Merkitty avainsanalla

Yleistieto

Sukupuoli
female

Jäseniä

Kirja-arvosteluja

A very easy read for all ages.

There are hardly any character descriptions, so readers have almost complete freedom over what the characters look like. The downside of this, is this means the rest of the book has a lack of descriptive text. The story is set in a contemporary time, when there has been an outbreak and everyone has to stay at home up until the age of fourteen, when their immune system can handle being among the rest of society. Then, the children go to boarding school, where they learn both technology and non-digital resources. The world is not described, so the reader has the freedom to decide how the world looks as well as the digital devices.

The story is written in first-person and styled as a diary set in the present, so accounts are told in real-time. Jess, the protagonist, writes from their point of view: anything Jess hears, sees, thinks, and knows, the reader is informed. This is great since the mystery unfolds at the same time, and if Jess is in the dark, so are we. The secrets revealed are also made known to her to us; therefore, we miss nothing and anything we should know as a reader, we know. This works well if readers want a slow-burn read, following the passing days and lessons taking place at the school before the action takes place a long way into the book.

Watching life from just Jess’ point of view means not knowing more about the other characters: Mae, Violet, Finn, and Jack. The whole world revolves around Jess’ hardship and getting to the bottom of her sister Chloe’s increase in medication costs. This is all we need to know as readers: following one person’s journey in a newly developed way of living. The other characters are ‘supporting cast’ to help with Jess’ dilemma. That being said, I’d personally love to see extracts of the other characters’ lives during the ordeal: Mae’s illegal school, Violet’s realisation of who Jess is, Finn’s experience away from Jess and her family – as well as his own, since nothing much is said about his life outside Jess’ circle – and Jack’s background. I’m glad these aren’t written into the story since this is Jess’ experience, not theirs. That being said, the book is dialogue-heavy. We read both Jess' thoughts and conversations she has with the other characters. The journey to Finn's school contains the most action-based text; thus, it feels thrown in deliberately to break away from dialogue and to carry the story forward. Nonetheless, everything that happens has to happen in order for Jess to carry out her plan; nothing is included unnecessarily.

The ending does raise questions. The book revolves around one person trying to exploit a system who are taking advantage of the outbreak. And since the book is written like a diary, some information are omitted, just like in a real diary. Therefore, what happened to the music competition? It is established that Jess has succeeded in cutting the medical bill because they are spending money on something else - what is that something else?
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
Louisesk | 1 muu arvostelu | Jan 26, 2024 |
Excellent, gritty story set in Africa ( although once again Fountain doesn't actually mention any countries) about Shif, a young boy of 11 who is forced to leave his mother and sister and imprisoned in a box in the desert for challenging the authorities. (His mother had packed a bag in order for him to leave the country and the soldiers found it). Together with his friend Bini, they endure prison life and discover that some of the prisoners have been there for years rotting in this hell hole. The prisoners decide to tell the two boys their stories and then help them escape. While escaping, tragedy happens and Shif is left alone to travel on to the nearest village where he is befriended by a kind family. After saving their daughter, the family decide to take Shif with them in their attempt to travel overseas in a boat to another country. But on the journey, the boat capsizes...
Gut-wrenching tale of what may drive some of these refugees to seek solace in Europe and risk their lives with shonky dealers and unsafe boats to travel from Africa.
… (lisätietoja)
½
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
nicsreads | 2 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Aug 14, 2023 |
Lola and her brother Ami go from being upper middle class India citizens to "street rats" in the blink of an eye due to a chain of unfortunate circumstances beyond their control. Their mother is dead. Their housekeeper has left to have a baby and a replacement hasn't arrived. Their father goes off to another district just when there are wild floods, and then doesn't come home. Because the father has cut himself off from the rest of his family, the children have no-one to turn to. The rent doesn't get paid and after 10 days, the landlord evicts them and they are tossed onto the street with just a small bag of clothes.
Lola decides to go to the train station to blend in and then keep coming back to the house in case her father returns but their bags are stolen and then Amit, her brother , disappears...
Gripping tale of the slums of India and how children survive. The Prostitution element is not explicitly alluded to although there is some violence and crime mentioned so it is suitable for younger readers with very easy to follow language. Spoiler Alert : There is a happy ending ( of sorts).
… (lisätietoja)
 
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nicsreads | Aug 2, 2023 |
I read this in two hours flat. I couldn’t put it down. The way the writer had Shif’s voice come off the page grabbed me from the start. The end was a bit rushed but otherwise a strong “first person account” of what it was like to leave your family, not by choice and then escape with nothing but perseverance to push you through. Easy enough read that I’d recommend it for MS grades.
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
Z_Brarian | 2 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Dec 12, 2022 |

Palkinnot

Tilastot

Teokset
6
Jäseniä
100
Suosituimmuussija
#190,120
Arvio (tähdet)
½ 4.3
Kirja-arvosteluja
6
ISBN:t
39
Kielet
1

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