Page 17 - Knowledge Organiser Yr8 24-25

Knowledge Base: Tutor Reading Bone Sparrow Year 8
1. Why this book?
The Bone Sparrow is a timely novel that deals directly with questions about migration, human rights and our broader humanity; important subjects in today’s world.
It is highly relevant for young people and adults alike, providing a platform for engagement and dialogue around issues that are readily present
in media and politics in the UK. The book presents us with challenging perspectives and uncomfortable realities.
3. Characters
Subhi
Jimmie’s Dad
Protagonist. A young boy who was born in Australia, in an immigration centre.
Jimmie’s Dad works away and often has to leave Jimmie at home.
Jimmie
Lives outside the camp in a house with her Father. Her Mother passed away, but left behind a book full of stories she had written. Jimmie and Subhi become friends through
Maá
He is Subhi’s Mother who doesn’t speak. She is shocked from the events that have led her to here and always shown to be upset.
Queeny
Subhi’s older sister who takes the role of the Mother, looking after her siblings. Jonah He is Subhi’s brother.
Eli
Met Subhi at the immigration detention centre and became friends. Eli took the role of an older brother to Subhi.
Harvey
A kind guard who works at the detention centre. He insists on learning every child’s name and getting to know them.
Beaver
A Jacket (guard) who works at the camp. He is notoriously horrible towards the Rohingya people
2. Plot
Subhi is a young Rohingya boy born in an Australian immigration detention centre. His existence is marked by harsh conditions and limited hope,
but his imaginative spirit and the stories he shares help him cope. His world changes when he meets Jimmie, a local girl dealing with her own grief, who sneaks into the camp and forms a deep friendship with Subhi. Together, they find comfort in Jimmie’s book of stories and a bone sparrow necklace, symbols of hope and resilience. Amidst rising tensions and a violent riot in the detention centre, their bond and the power of stories provide them with strength and a glimmer of optimism for the future.
Nasir
An elderly man who lives at the detention centre.
4. Context
5. Vocabulary
refugee
A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster.
Immigration detention
The practice by the government of locking people in detention centres while their immigration status is resolved. It is a form of administrative detention, not criminal justice or punishment. However, conditions in immigration detention mirror those of a prison.
Rohingyas
A mainly Muslim ethnic minority group consisting of an estimated 1.1 million people in Myanmar. (Burma) Burma’s government have consistently refused to acknowledge the Rohingya as citizens of Burma, instead claiming they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.
6. Themes
Hope and resilience The power of stories
Despite the harsh conditions, Subhi and Jimmie find hope and strength through their friendship and storytelling. Stories serve as a means of escape, connection, and empowerment for the characters.
Family and friendship
Subhi relies on friendships to maintain his positive outlook. He learns that showing love and care to one’s friends and family isn’t always easy or straightforward. The friendship between Jimmie and Subhi explores a friendship of two people who live in quite different worlds yet very near each other.
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