{"id":1807,"date":"2015-11-19T21:04:31","date_gmt":"2015-11-19T20:04:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mirrorswindowsdoors.org\/wp\/?p=1807"},"modified":"2016-03-30T14:28:14","modified_gmt":"2016-03-30T13:28:14","slug":"revisited-home-and-away-by-john-marsden-and-matt-ottley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mirrorswindowsdoors.org\/wp\/revisited-home-and-away-by-john-marsden-and-matt-ottley\/","title":{"rendered":"Revisited: Home and Away by John Marsden and Matt Ottley"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Home<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Home and Away
\n<\/em><\/strong>written by John Marsden<\/a>, illustrated by Matt Ottley<\/a>
\n(Lothian Children\u2019s Books, 2008)<\/h2>\n

The definite scribbling out of the word \u201cHome\u201d in the title of this extraordinary collaboration between author John Marsden and illustrator Matt Ottley provides a frisson of disquiet before the narrative even opens: that, and the equally disturbing cover illustration of a child imprisoned behind a high wire enclosure.\u00a0 Yet the story opens with the fifteen-year-old unnamed narrator\u2019s description of his family \u2013 Mum, Dad, younger sister Claire and brother Toby \u2013 all leading a normal, busy Australian family life: until 27 April, when \u201cThe war starts\u201d.\u00a0 From then on, life is about survival as civilians caught up in a war that has nothing and everything to do with them.<\/p>\n

Like other stories about civilian refugees who have fled war in their home-country,\u00a0Home and Away\u00a0<\/em>is disturbing. What makes it particularly hard-hitting for readers in Australia, where the book originates, and indeed in other first-world countries, is the familiarity of the cultural setting of both \u201cHome\u201d and \u201cAway\u201d \u2013 either of them could be on the reader\u2019s doorstep. The text is sparse, making it accessible to a wide range of readers; and the stunning art-work is made even more harrowing by the inclusion, alongside Ottley\u2019s realistic, expressive oils, of the heart-rending portrayals of brutality depicted in crayon by the five-year-old Toby.<\/p>\n

Told through a series of succinct diary entries written on any piece of paper to hand, we learn of the family\u2019s struggle to survive. The horrors do not cease once they flee their home \u2013 their destination does not offer much in the way of hope for starting again.\u00a0 The only members of their family left, the three siblings are separated and kept locked up as prisoners, each deeply psychologically scarred. The narrator\u2019s ambition now is simply to get his family back together again and find a way to survive \u2013 forget being a vet, \u201cmaybe I could wash cars or something.\u201d The only glimmer of optimism is the kindness of a very few individuals who send small gifts or visit, despite the hostility from government officials who refuse to acknowledge them as refugees.<\/p>\n

It is sometimes easy to hide from the human reality of refugee issues behind political rhetoric about immigration.\u00a0Home and Away<\/em>\u00a0strips away all the safety barriers and forces its readers to acknowledge the realness and individuality of refugees through this convincing portrayal of an arbitrary war that spits out ordinary people \u201clike me.\u201d Yes, indeed, this book is an absolute must for anyone seeking to raise compassion and empathy for the plight of refugees anywhere.<\/p>\n

This review first appeared\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0on the PaperTigers.org website in Decenber 2009.<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"Home<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Home and Away
<\/em><\/strong>written by John Marsden<\/a>, illustrated by Matt Ottley<\/a>
(Lothian Children\u2019s Books, 2008)<\/h2>\n

The definite scribbling out of \u2026<\/p>\n

Continue reading …<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,3,279,467],"tags":[1106,869,1198,1200,1201,1199,61],"yoast_head":"\nRevisited: Home and Away by John Marsden and Matt Ottley ~<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/mirrorswindowsdoors.org\/wp\/revisited-home-and-away-by-john-marsden-and-matt-ottley\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Revisited: Home and Away by John Marsden and Matt Ottley ~\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  Home and Away written by John Marsden, illustrated by Matt Ottley (Lothian Children\u2019s Books, 2008) The definite scribbling out of 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