Mahtab's Story

Libby Gleeson (author)

Allen & Unwin, Australia: 2008; 192pp

ISBN: 9781741753349

Genre: realistic fiction

Issues: conflict,family, friendship, tolerance, racism, refugees,social condition

Note: appropriate reading for 11+ but has some advanced concepts

This moving novel gives a child's eye view of migration from Afghanistan to Australia.

After her father has been severely beaten by the Taliban and her grandfather killed, Mahtab's parents realise that a move is essential if their three children are to be safe. They want their two daughters, Mahtab and Soraya, to be able to go to school, to university, to leave the house, to feel safe and happy. They wish their son, Farad, to grow up without being exposed to further violence and death, to live in a country where he can play without fear or prejudice.

Although this means leaving their beloved home and relatives, Mahtab's family endure two weeks of a frightening journey along the back roads over the mountains to Pakistan. Here Mahtab is separated from her father who goes ahead to Australia to prepare a way for his wife and children.

Five weary months of waiting ensue as Mahtab struggles to help her mother keep the younger children occupied and hidden. When there is still no word from her father and danger surrounds them, Mahtab urges her mother to follow him to Australia. At the end of a frightening, dangerous journey, they find themselves in detention. Where is the freedom their father promised?

An evocative, thought-provoking novel, Mahtab's Story gives readers insight into the experiences of those who migrate under desperate circumstances. Gleeson is careful to avoid examples of obvious insensitivity on the part of guards or officials at detention centres. Nor does she show details of more extreme acts on the parts of desperate migrants. This makes the novel appropriate for sharing with younger readers without giving undue distress, although Mahtab's own grief, fear and sense of isolation will have a strong impact on empathetic readers.

Recommended, especially for parallel study with Soraya the Storyteller (Roseanne Hawke) and Walk In My Shoes (Alwyn Evans).