Contemporary Australian Children's Literature (L-ENG315)
2011

Texts

y separately published work icon The Binna Binna Man Meme McDonald , Boori Pryor , St Leonards : Allen and Unwin , 1999 Z492840 1999 single work children's fiction children's (taught in 7 units) 'The powerful story of an Aboriginal teenage boy who is caught between the attractions of city life and the ways of his people. After a terrifying encounter with the Binna Binna man he knows what he must do in order to be true to himself.' Source: Libraries Australia.
y separately published work icon Naked Bunyip Dancing Beth Norling (illustrator), Steven Herrick , Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2005 Z1206793 2005 single work children's fiction children's humour (taught in 1 units) 'With Carey the Hairy as their teacher, class 6C get into 'co-curricular activities' like poetry and belly dancing, and they put on a concert that is the best night of their lives. Funny, honest and full of likeable characters, this free verse story is perfect for 8-12s.' (Publication summary)
 
y separately published work icon Two Weeks with the Queen : The Play Mary Morris , 1992 Paddington : Currency Press , 1993 Z203021 1992 single work drama humour young adult (taught in 1 units) Sent to live with relatives in England when his younger brother develops a rare form of cancer, Colin tries to see the Queen to help find a cure for his brother.
y separately published work icon Journey to Eureka Kerry Greenwood , Sydney : Hachette Children's Books Australia , 2005 Z1261469 2005 single work children's fiction children's historical fiction (taught in 1 units)
y separately published work icon The Divine Wind Garry Disher , Sydney : Hodder Headline , 1998 Z268319 1998 single work novel historical fiction young adult (taught in 8 units)

'Friendship is a slippery notion. We lose friends as we change and our friends don't, or as we form other alliances, or as we betray our friends or are ourselves betrayed ...

'Alice, Hartley, Mitsy and Jamie are kids growing up in Broome before the Second World War. Their lives, although very different, are bound by friendship. Hartley and Alice Penrose are the children of an uneducated pearling master and a cultivated, disgruntled mother. Mitsy Sennosuke is Japanese, the daughter of Zeke, a diver working for Hartley and Alice's father, and Sadako, who makes soy sauce in a tin shed factory. Jamie Kilian is the son of a local magistrate, recently moved north from the city. Together, they unconsciously cross the boundaries of class and race, as they swim, joke and watch films in the cinema in Sheba Lane.

'But these happy, untroubled times end when lives are lost in a terrible cyclone, Alice falls for a wealthy cattleman pilot, a young woman is assaulted, and Hartley and Jamie compete for the love of Mitsy. The Second World War brings further strain into their lives. The four friends are no longer children but old enough to fight for their country. As Japanese bombs begin to fall like silver rain on northern Australia, loyalties are divided and friendships take on an altogether different form …

'This thrilling and beautifully written new novel from Garry Disher evokes an era of Australia caught up in the events of war and its effects on people torn apart from all they know and hold dear in childhood.' (Source: Publisher's website)

y separately published work icon Theodora's Gift Ursula Dubosarsky , Camberwell : Viking , 2005 Z1193883 2005 single work children's fiction children's (taught in 4 units) Theodora is fourteen when her father has a mysterious vision. Soon after, he leaves his family and goes to live with his first wife. It is up to Theodora and her half-brother Samuel to bring him back. Meanwhile, Samuel's grandfather is dying, and Theodora begins to see a black cat that could not possibly be real. As present-day events collide with stories from a distant past, the world begins to seem a more complex place, full of uncertainty, great wonder and inspiration. - back cover
y separately published work icon Does My Head Look Big in This? Randa Abdel-Fattah , Sydney : Pan Macmillan Australia , 2005 Z1208243 2005 single work novel young adult (taught in 4 units)

'Welcome to my world. I'm Amal Abdel-Hakim, a seventeen-year-old Australian-Palestinian-Muslim still trying to come to grips with my various identity hyphens.

'It's hard enough being cool as a teenager when being one issue behind in the latest Cosmo is enough to disqualify you from the in-group. Try wearing a veil on your head and practising the bum's up position at lunchtime and you know you're in for a tough time at school.

Luckily my friends support me, although they've got a few troubles of their own. Simone, blonde, gorgeous and overweight – she's got serious image issues, and Leila's really intelligent but her parents are more interested in her getting a marriage certificate than her high school certificate!

'And I thought I had problems...'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

y separately published work icon Two Weeks With the Queen Morris Gleitzman , London : Blackie , 1989 Z509661 1989 single work novel humour young adult (taught in 3 units) "Sent to live with relatives in England when his younger brother develops a rare form of cancer, Colin tries to see the Queen to help find a cure for his brother." (Source: Trove)
y separately published work icon Boys of Blood and Bone David Metzenthen , Camberwell : Penguin , 2003 Z1042804 2003 single work novel young adult war literature historical fiction (taught in 6 units) Two parallel stories about two young men, separated by nearly nine decades in two different eras. As Andy and his mates head inexorably towards the bloody torturous Great War, Henry faces challenges, dangerous situations and tragedies of his own. (LA)

Description

Explore the relationships between Australia's changing culture and society and the literature that society produces for its children. You will focus on the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, and will explore the representation of issues such as: Maturation; Relationships of self to place; Structures of power and authority in society and reconciliation between Indigenous Australians and white-settler Australian cultures. These issues will be examined in fiction, picture book and film.

Assessment

Assignment 1 (20%); Assignment 2 (30%); Online Discussion (10%); Quiz 1 (20%); Quiz 2 (20%)

Other Details

Offered during study periods 2 and 3. Provided by Macquarie through Open Universities. For further information refer to: http://www.open.edu.au/public/courses-and-units/arts/unit-eng315-2011

Current Campus: External
Levels: Undergraduate
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