The burnt stick
Hill, Anthony, 1942-1996
Books, Manuscripts
Find it!
When John Jagamarra was five, he was taken away from his mother and home in an Australian aboriginal camp. John was half-white, and the law said he had to be educated in a mission school to learn the ways of white people. But John never forgot his real home - or his mother, who dared to trick the men from the welfare department by darkening him with a burnt stick to hide his light skin.
Main title:
The burnt stick / Anthony Hill ; illustrated by Mark Sofilas.
Author:
Hill, Anthony, 1942-Sofilas, Mark, illustrator
Imprint:
Ringwood, Vic. : Penguin, 1996.
Collation:
52 pages : illustrations ; 20 cm.
Series title:
Notes:
"Nobody asked the children before they took them away..."--CoverA poignant tale of painful separation, abiding love, and enduring memory.Following an Australian custom practiced until relatively recently, a light-skinned boy is taken from his aboriginal mother to be raised ``as white'' in a poignant but fragmentary episode. John Jagamarra is almost five when the Big Man from Welfare comes to camp; his mother desperately smears his skin with soot, but the Big Man is only temporarily fooled. John is transported to the Pearl Bay Mission For Aboriginal Children; he is taught to speak English, wear clothes, and attend church, but never forgets where he came from, or his mother, or even the stories told by the old men around the campfire.
Audience:
Upper primaryFor Ages: 8+ years old
Awards:
Winner Australian Christian Literature Award 1995 ; Honour book, The Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Years for Younger Readers 1995 ; Shortlisted Australian Multicultural Book of the Year Award 1995.Shortlisted Australian Human Rights Award 1995 ; Shortlisted NSW Premiers Award 1995 ; Shortlisted Ethel Turner Prize for Children's Writing 1995 ; Shortlisted Ethnic Affairs Commission Award 1995.
ISBN:
9780140369298 (paperback)
Language:
English
Subject:
Aboriginal Australians -- FictionChildren, Aboriginal Australian -- FictionChildren, Aboriginal Australian -- Institutional care -- FictionChildren, Aboriginal Australian -- Australia -- Government policy -- FictionAboriginal Australians -- Removal -- FictionStolen generations (Australia) -- FictionMothers and sons -- Australia -- FictionSeparation anxiety in children -- FictionSeparation (Psychology) -- FictionAuthors, AustralianPremier's reading challenge -- grades 5to6
BRN:
21530
More Information:
| Location | Collection | Call number | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penrith | Junior Fiction - Premier's Reading Challenge | HILL | Available |