Soraya the Storyteller

Description

Soraya is an 11-year-old asylum seeker from Afghanistan living under the shadow of a temporary protection visa. Soraya and her family begin a new life in a South Australian town. She attends school for the first time, though she had been taught at home. She studies hard so she'll be put in a higher class and be able to stay in Australia, and she begins to make friends, not just at school but with the 'possum man', who lives in her street. Soraya remembers how her older sister and brother died in Kabul, and how her favourite brother, Qamar, was taken by the Taliban to fight. Her father died in prison. She remembers some of the journey to Australia and the year in the detention centre.

Rosanne Hawke lived as aid worker in the North-west Frontier Province of Pakistan for many years. Her other books include Borderland , Wolfchild (shortlisted for the Aurealis Awards), Zenna Dare and Sailmaker in the 2005 CBCA Book of the Year Awards. Rosanne teaches part time at Adelaide TAFE and is completing a PhD at the University of Adelaide.