Blog Post 2: Lesson Plan for Victor Kelleher’s Taronga

One of the novels I considered using for my book review was an Australian young adult novel entitled Taronga by Victor Kelleher. I found the premise of this novel to be really interesting but I was unable to find an ebook version so I chose another novel. However, the themes, ideas, and characters of the novel are still very interesting to me and as a prospective future teacher I thought it would be interesting to develop a conceptual lesson plan about the novel.

One of the main themes Taronga is the often tenuous relationship between human life and the natural world. This theme of man vs. nature has been featured throughout literary history, so I would definitely include in my lesson plan having students research writings, poems, and novels from the past that also identify the battle between the human world and the natural world. Through these novels and poems from the past I would ask my students to compare and contrast the depictions of the human vs. nature struggle seen in those novels when put up against Taronga

Another way I would create a lesson plan surrounding Taronga is that I would play of the sense of realism that the novel creates in it’s setting and plot surrounding the destruction of the natural world. I would have my students do research on the effects of global warming, deforestation, pollution, war, and other forces that are pushing the natural world on Earth to the brink of destruction. By giving the students an opportunity to explore the real-world context for the themes and concepts that Taronga poses, I would hope it would help them gain a better understanding of the importance of the natural world and help work towards solutions for future generations of people instead of ignoring these pressing issues and just hoping they will go away.

Australia is country that features some of the most beautiful and inspiring natural environments and animals. As a novel, Taronga really focuses on these elements of Australian life and therefore would be the central topic of my lesson plan for young adults reading this novel. I would have my students research and present their findings on the history of the human vs. nature theme in literature as well as researching and presenting real world issues surrounding the destruction of the natural world.

 

Work Cited

Kelleher, Victor. Taronga. Penguin Books Australia, 2013.

Blog Post 1 : Indigenous representation in Australian young adult literature

When scanning through the lists of the most popular Australian young adult novels, I noticed a trend that is definitely not unique to this situation but is worthy of addressing nonetheless. I noticed that all the novels found on these lists were about young white people, and all seemingly did not include stories of the indigenous youth of Australia. Representation of indigenous people and minorities has definitely been lacking throughout the history of young adult literature, and despite an upwards trend in this representation, it feels as if we are still so far away from accomplishing the necessary forms of representation in young adult literature here in the U.S., and the same appears to be true for Australia as well. Australia has a colonial history just as the U.S. does, and in situations like these where a dominant  group controls the literature, it has been traditionally nearly impossible to get adequate representation in young adult literature for minority groups. Why do you think that young adult publishers have been so hesitant publish young adult novels that are centralized around the minority or indigenous Australian experience?

I believe there are a mixture of equally powerful reasons that have led to the limitation of minority and indigenous representation in Australian young adult literature. First is the most obvious; racism. The history of racism and racial inequality in Australia is quite a powerful one that has divided the country ethnically for centuries. Secondly, I think that many publishers are afraid to feature minority protagonists in central roles in Australian young adult novels due the desire for profits. These publishers may be afraid that white young adults who make up a majority of their readership could be turned off by a novel featuring an indigenous Australian character as the protagonist. The market of Australian young adult literature has been so overwhelmingly white that publishers would feel more comfortable sticking with novels that adhere to a more traditional sense and are more likely to succeed in the Australian young adult novel market.

I can’t help but feel like these are poor excuses for the lack of indigenous representation in Australian young adult novels, and I think that we have reached a point in time where many young people across the globe are gaining interest in topics of social justice and a novel featuring an indigenous protagonist could reach both commercial and critical success in Australia. For now, we as readers can just play the waiting game and support the Australian authors and publishers who work towards equality of representation in their novels.

Book Review of Melina Marchetta’s Looking For Alibrandi

Adult Themes in Young Adult Literature: Looking for Alibrandi

Note- I used the ebook version of this text so citations will include location and chapter numbers.

The idea that Young Adult literature does not or should not contain mature themes and content is strongly challenged by Melina Marchetta’s Looking for Alibrandi. Within the pages of this novel we as readers are taken on a journey of the growing and shifting perspectives and understandings of the world surrounding an Australian teenager named Josie Alibrandi, her family, and the friends, teachers, and fellow students she interacts with. Through this intellectual and witty teenager, we as readers experience wide breadth of deeply complex topics and themes that explore religion, cultural identity, love, family, suicide, and the mind of a rebellious teenager. Looking For Alibrandi is an emotional journey that’s mature themes and content will engage young adults while also providing the necessary complexity and depth necessary for an adult reader to enjoy this novel and walk away from it feeling satisfied as a reader. In my opinion, this novel fits in incredibly well with the other novels we have read this semester. The themes experienced in this novel mirror those that were constant throughout our readings this semester. By addressing these often emotional and private concepts such as cultural identity, depression, and love, Looking For Alibrandi creates an unique experience through the vibrant and interesting cast of characters in which readers can easily find themselves drawn in. There are many scenes and characters in this novel that create huge amounts of tensions in the novel. For example, Josie is constantly experiencing conflict with her very strict and extremely catholic grandmother, and Josie is similarly distraught by the unexpected reappearance of her estranged father. These conflicts and others like them push the narrative forward and keeps the reader’s attention and interest throughout the entire novel. Looking For Alibrandi is undoubtedly a novel that bridges the gap between young adult novels and novels for adults.

For me, one the most interesting elements of the novel lies in the relationship between Josie and her estranged father who has reappeared in her life. Josie’s father, Michael, abandoned Josie and her mother when Josie was young. This sense of abandonment that Josie experiences from growing up without a father, especially within the context of existing in devoutly catholic community, has shaped and molded Josie’s identity. This is exemplified when Josie sees her father for the first time when he comes to her house. Josie had created and infinite amount of images of what and who her father was and was still in shock when she saw him. Josie’s thoughts when she first sees him are, “I looked at him and at the moment every image I had of my father flew out the window. I thought he’d be tall. He wasn’t. I thought he’d be good-looking. He wasn’t. I thought he’d look like a weakling. He didn’t.” (Marchetta Location 516 Chapter 3) For me, I find the inclusion of a protagonist of a young adult novel living in and navigating the world from the perspective of a single parent household is a topic that is extremely poignant to a modern audience. There are millions of children and young adults who are in a similar situation as Josie, and this form of representation for these children and young adults is incredibly important. By increasing representation and diversity in young adult literature, doors are being opened and opportunities are being created for more and more people to experience and identify with young adult literature. Looking For Alibrandi is a novel which clearly succeeds in this notion and has received critical and commercial success, while also being translated into a film version of the novel. If having your novel turned into a film isn’t the holy grail of young adult literature, I don’t know what is.

Overall, Looking For Alibrandi is a powerful and moving novel that contains very serious and mature themes. One of those themes is the topic of suicide. Suicide is an unbelievably complex topic that rarely makes it into the pages of young adult literature. With the suicide of Josie’s friend and sometimes love interest, John, Looking for Alibrandi takes a dark yet necessary turn in regards to representation. Suicide is without a doubt one of the most serious and sad issues facing our world, and young people are killing themselves at higher rates than ever before. Issues that are so serious such as suicide need to be addressed in areas such as young adult novels more often in order to increase awareness and perhaps offer avenues of support and identification for young people who are struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts and tendencies.  Young people are naturally drawn to entertaining forms of media and Looking for Alibrandi and other novels like that can definitely fill that role for young people. By being incredibly entertaining and containing some extremely serious and complex social issues, Looking for Alibrandi is a novel that succeeds in a large number of ways. I am very thankful for the opportunity to read and review this novel as I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of engagement with the novel I felt while reading it. This is a novel I would recommend to anyone, of any age, and that’s what makes it an absolutely outstanding young adult novel.

Works Cited

 

Marchetta, Melina. Looking for Alibrandi. Penguin Group (Australia), 2015.