My Place

My Place

Written by: Nadia Wheatley & Donna Rawlins

Elementary Grades

"My Place is a wonderfully intimate history of Australia starting in 1988 and going back 200 years to 1788. Young readers learn its history by being told the story of one particular place by the generations of Australian children who have lived there. Rich in detail, with maps that the successive generations of children have draw, My place could completely occupy a child (or an entire class of children). Nadia Wheatly is an historian and in collaboration with illustrator Donna Rawlins have successfully combined their mutual curiosity about the past to show the story of Australia as seen by children."

Publishers Description

Online Resources:
http://kcac.kennesaw.edu/classroom_resources/Xhullender.html

Does My Head Look Big in This?

Does My Head Look Big In This?

Written by: Randa Abdel-Fattah

High School Grades

"Australian 11th-grader Amal is smart, funny, outspoken, a good student, and a loyal friend. She is also a devout Muslim who decides to wear the hijab, or head covering, full-time. The story tells of her emotional and spiritual journey as she copes with a mad crush on a boy, befriends an elderly Greek neighbor, and tries to help a friend who aspires to be a lawyer but whose well-intentioned mother is trying to force her to leave school and get married. Amal is also battling the misconceptions of non-Muslims about her religion and culture. While the novel deals with a number of serious issues, it is extremely funny and entertaining, and never preachy or forced.

The details of Amal's family and social life are spot-on, and the book is wonderful at showing the diversity within Muslim communities and in explaining why so many women choose to wear the hijab. Amal is an appealing and believable character. She trades verbal jibes with another girl, she is impetuous and even arrogant at times, and she makes some serious errors of judgment. And by the end of the story, she and readers come to realize that "Putting on the hijab isn't the end of the journey. It's just the beginning of it."

School Library Journal Review

Online resources:
www.thisiswhereineedtobe.com/pdf/The_ID_Project.pdf