Map the novel

Australian Curriculum: English sub-strand: Literature – Literature and context

Provide students with maps so they can track the journey of Mahtab as they read the novel.

Students will: Map the journey from Herat in Afghanistan to Pakistan, to Malaysia, then to Indonesia before arriving in Darwin and continuing their journey to the detention centre.

Reflection and video conference Part 1

Australian Curriculum: English sub-strand: Literacy – Interacting with others

Following reading of Chapters 3 and 4, pose the question – What would you do if you suddenly lost all control of your life? Discuss the concept of not being in control of your destiny with the students.

Author Libby Gleeson

In Session 1 Libby Gleeson explores the context of asylum seekers and refugees as background to Mahtab's Story, to then discuss the techniques she used to portray asylum seekers’ resilience and hopes in challenging and sometimes distressing circumstances.

View the video conference and discuss the techniques used by the author (left) for portraying human resilience in the novel. (Note that the video is of low quality, being the recording of a classroom-based video conference between several schools and is 48 minutes in duration.)

Students will: Explore the concept of basic human needs:

What would you do if you suddenly lost all control of your life? Imagine travelling and hiding in the back of a truck, your food being brought to you in Pakistan, not knowing when you’d be able to run around and play again.

Student will create a ‘Wordle’ in response to this discussion. Reflect on author’s motivation for writing the novel and techniques for conveying the strength of the human spirit.

Family history and stories of origin

Australian Curriculum: English sub-strands: Literacy – Interacting with others; Interpreting, analysing and evaluating

Review Chapter 4 where Mahtab, her mother and siblings are waiting in Pakistan. Remind students that storytelling is not only good for passing time, but for relating family history and where you have come from.

  • Share a personal story from childhood with students. Focus discussion to emphasise the idea that storytelling has played a vital role in history — without stories being passed down, we would not know about the past.
  • Reinforce the importance of storytelling and other oral traditions in passing on cultures
  • Make links with Aboriginal Dreaming stories and the role they play in ensuring the continuity of Aboriginal beliefs, knowledge and traditions.
  • Explain the importance of the story of The Rainbow Serpent in its many versions in Aboriginal cultures as a way of explaining the formation of many of Australia’s landforms.

Students will: Consider the importance of listening to stories for the children in the novel. Share a personal story from childhood with class (perhaps a story they were told by their parents/grandparents/siblings, or an event they remember). Collect titles of their favourite nursery rhymes or childhood stories. Read several versions of The Rainbow Serpent as a class.