The Boy Who Wouldn't Die, by David Nyuol Vincent with Carol Nader

Bodies slick with sweat, we walked in silence. To talk was to waste energy.
I looked at my father’s face, searching for something that would reassure me. But all I saw was fear.
Don’t die, don’t die, don’t die, don’t die. I chanted the words in my head like a mantra.

At an age when Australian youngsters would have been playing with toys or starting school, David Nyual Vincent was trekking across the Sahara Desert with his father, in a desperate attempt to flee war-torn Sudan and stay alive. Sudan was in the grip of a terrible civil war, and his father had taken him away from his mother and sisters, believing they would be safer in neighbouring Ethiopia.

Over the next 17 years David grew up, separated from all of his family – including his father – living in refugee camps, struggling for food, shelter and hygiene, even being trained as a child soldier. Eventually, in 2004, David was granted a humanitarian visa and resettled in Australia. Here his life changed, but he had new battles to face, including the demons of his past and his determination to make a difference for the country of his birth.

The Boy Who Wouldn’t Die is a moving, honest account of a young man’s struggle and growth as he faces seemingly insurmountable obstacles. There are scenes of horror and despair, but also many moments of triumph and even humour.

Written in first person voice by David, with support from journalist Carol Nader, The Boy Who Wouldn’t Die gives a wonderful insight into the life and journey of one person, and at the same time helps readers to a more intimate understanding of the refugee experience.

The Boy Who Wouldn't Die

The Boy Who Wouldn’t Die, by David Nyuol Vincent with Carol Nader
Allen & Unwin, 2012
ISBN 9781743310250

Available from good bookstores or online from Fishpond.

The Ink Bridge by Neil Grant

Omed, a boy, flees Afganistan after a run in with the Taliban. He leaves behind his family and all he knows. His agonising and protracted journey leads him to Australia. There he is supposed to find peace and prosperity. Hector is an Australian boy, locked into silence by trauma. He’s gradually withdrawing from all he has known.

Omed had the Buddha’s eyes and a tongue that refused words. His was the silence of caves; the false peace that descends when a mortar shell rips apart a building. His was the stillness of bald mountains and long beards and the paths cleared by bullets; the quiet of a long-bladed knife.

Did all this begin with Omed? Or did it start with me at fifteen, shouting for answers; words running sour in my mouth, bleeding to whispers in my throat, evaporating in numbed ears. Those ears: my dad, my invisible friends, teachers that either didn’t care or cared too much.

Omed, a boy, flees Afghanistan after a run in with the Taliban. He leaves behind his family and all he knows. His agonising and protracted journey leads him to Australia. There he is supposed to find peace and prosperity. Hector is an Australian boy, locked into silence by trauma. He’s gradually withdrawing from all he has known. Their lives intersect in a candle factory in the suburbs. It is a place of numbing boredom, but also a place of secrets. Dangerous secrets. Hector and Omed are linked by their stories, by their experience and by the secrets they uncover.

Hector and Omed are from very different worlds. Both are silent, although it’s not immediately obvious why that is. Candles are supposed to light up the darkness, but illumination leaves shadows, even when two candles combine. There are dark corners in the worlds these boys encounter, separately and together. Meeting each other is a turning point, although neither could have predicted the direction. Grant takes the reader into the enduring horror of Afghanistan’s wars and shows the complexity of the challenges, the realities for a people so long the focus of aggression and hate. The metaphor of a bridge linking the seemingly unlinkable features strongly. He also shines a light on the desperation that impels refugees to seek homes elsewhere, and the barriers that make the journey so much harder than it should have to be. Hector’s rites of passage journey contrasts with Omed’s, but shows the power of empathy and shared experiences. Recommended for mid-secondary readers.

The Ink Bridge, Neil Grant
Allen & Unwin 2012 ISBN: 9781742376691

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com

The Little Refugee, by Anh Do & Suzanne Do

The Little Refugee is a beautiful, important picture book, telling of one family’s refugee experience. Aimed at primary school readers, it tells Do’s story in simple language using details which children will connect with -t he fear of being in a leaky boat out at sea, the humour of his younger brother being dressed as a girl, the difficulties of making new friends and the pride of being chosen as class captain.

‘What a great country!’ my parents said to each other when we arrived in Australia.

In this first person narrative, Ahn Do tells readers about his early years in “a faraway country called Vietnam” where his family was poor but happy – thirteen people living in a tiny three room house. He then tells of the dangers the men of the family faced staying in Vietnam, and their subsequent journey to Australia in “an old wooden fishing boat that stank of fish”. He also shares details of the family’s new life here in Australia, finishing on the upbeat note of Anh’s election as class captain at his new primary school.

The Little Refugee is a beautiful, important picture book, telling of one family’s refugee experience. Aimed at primary school readers, it tells Do’s story in simple language using details which children will connect with -t he fear of being in a leaky boat out at sea, the humour of his younger brother being dressed as a girl, the difficulties of making new friends and the pride of being chosen as class captain.

Illustrations, by Bruce Whatley use ink outlines and a mix of warm pastel colours for the pages in Australia and sepia tones for the spreads set in Vietnam and aboard the boat, creating a visual contrast between the parts of Do’s life.

Do’s earlier autobiography aimed at adults, The Happiest Refugee has received many accolades. The Little Refugee provides a wonderful means of sharing his story with a younger audience and in highlighting the refugee experience more generally.

The Little Refugee
The Little Refugee, by Ahn Do & Suzanne Do, illustrated by Bruce Whatley
Allen & Unwin, 2011
ISBN 9781742378329

This book can be purchased online from Fishpond. Buying through this link supports Aussiereviews.