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  • The BlackWords Essays Trails

    The following trail is linked to the The BlackWords Essays by Dr Anita Heiss, published by AustLit in 2015. They bring together the works, authors and organisations that are mentioned in the essays and support the teaching and incorporation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander texts in teaching and general reading.

  • BlackWords: serious issues for young readers

  • This image has been sourced from online.

    'These works can be used to share ideas about and discuss matters relating to Indigenous identity in the context of self-identification, self-esteem, and cultural belonging. Students and young people from all cultural backgrounds will be able to relate to the experiences of the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander characters in the stories.' (Heiss, Anita, BlackWords: Serious Issues for Young Readers . 2015)

  • Young Readers and Identity - The Yarning Strong Identity Series

    the Yarning Strong Identity Anthology exploring what it means to have an Indigenous identity in our country today, and looking forward to a time when the ‘two worlds’ of Australia become one.

  • Yarning Strong Identity Anthology edited by Oxford University Press

    image of person or book cover
    Cover image courtesy of publisher.

    'This collection gathers Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal voices from throughout Australia, exploring what it means to have an indigenous identity in our country today, and looking forward to a time when the "two worlds" of Australia become one. Includes transcript of the Prime Minister's Sorry speech.' (Source: back cover)

    (...more)
    See full AustLit entry
  • For Years 3-4 fiction & graphic novels

  • The Naming of Yellow Hair by Richard Frankland

    image of person or book cover
    Image courtesy of publisher's website.

    'Dad tells Yarwan and her brother, Tarn, that they’re going to have a Totem Naming Day! But when? While they wait to find out, Yarwan starts thinking about who she is and what her totem might be.' (Source: Publishers website)

    (...more)
    See full AustLit entry
  • The Croydon Park Cooking Club written and illustrated by David Leffler

    image of person or book cover
    Image courtesy of publisher's website.

    'Akala seriously loves cooking. She’s going to be a great pastry chef one day, and learns more about creating sweets at Mr Aziz’s cooking club every school holidays. But when Mr Aziz sets the club a cake-making challenge, Akala is stumped.' (Source: Publishers website)

    (...more)
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  • Rusty and Jojo by Marie Munkara

    image of person or book cover
    Image courtesy of publisher's website.

    'When Rusty Brown sees Jojo for the first time, all he notices is his wheelchair. Jojo gets teased about it a lot. Rusty soon learns that Jojo is just like every other kid—but with an awesome secret too.' (Source: Publishers website)

    (...more)
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  • Caught me a wish by Sue McPherson

    image of person or book cover
    Image courtesy of publisher's website.

    'Bindi’s big brother, Rocco, is very sick. All she wants is for him to get better. While Rocco is away getting treatment, Bindi discovers the healing power of a good yarn and a simple wish.' (Source: Publishers website)

    (...more)
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  • Where you from? Who's ya mob? by Gayle Kennedy and illustrated by Ross Carnsew

    image of person or book cover
    Image courtesy of publisher's website.

    'When Riley starts playing rugby league, he loves it—until a new friend from footy asks him a difficult question. All of a sudden, Riley doesn’t know who he is.' (Source: publishers website)

    (...more)
    See full AustLit entry
  • Years 5-6 fiction & graphic novels

  • Jindah Murray, Wind Dancer by Fiona Doyle

    image of person or book cover
    Cover image courtesy of publisher.

    "Jindah Murray knew and knew and knew she wanted to dance like the wind." (Cover blurb)

    (...more)
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  • Jali Boy by Ricky Macourt

    image of person or book cover
    Image courtesy of publisher's website.

    'Being sent to boarding school in the city is harder than Jali could ever have imagined. But what no one yet knows, even Jali, is that this boy is a warrior at heart.' (Source: Publishers website)

    (...more)
    See full AustLit entry
  • The Chainsaw File by Bruce Pascoe

    image of person or book cover
    This image has been sourced from Anita Heiss 2014.
    'Suspended from school for arguing about Australian history with his teacher, Tyrone works on a building site with his dad and learns that there's more than one way to be a hero for his people.' (From the publisher's website.) (...more)
    See full AustLit entry
  • Just the Skin You're Livin' In by Gayle Kennedy and illustrated by Ross Carnsew

    image of person or book cover
    Cover image courtesy of publisher.

    "Don't judge people by appearances. Us Aboriginal people come in all colours." (Cover blurb)

    (...more)
    See full AustLit entry
  • Other Works for Young Readers

  • My Place by Sally Morgan

    image of person or book cover
    Cover image courtesy of the publisher.

    'In 1982, Sally Morgan travelled back to her grandmother's birthplace. What started as a tentative search for information about her family, turned into an overwhelming emotional and spiritual pilgrimage. My Place is a moving account of a search for truth into which a whole family is gradually drawn, finally freeing the tongues of the author's mother and grandmother, allowing them to tell their own stories.' Source: Publisher's blurb.

    (...more)
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  • Digger J. Jones: Holy Snappin' Duckpoo!: My Diary by Richard Frankland

    image of person or book cover
    This image has been sourced from Goodreads website.

    'Digger is keeping a diary about the things that matter to him: piffing yonnies at the meatworks, fishing with his cousins, and brawling with the school bully. But it's 1967, and bigger things keep getting in the way. Digger is finding out who he is, what he believes, and what's worth fighting for.' (Source: Goodreads website)

    (...more)
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  • Who Am I? The Diary of Mary Talence: Sydney, 1937 by Anita Heiss

    image of person or book cover
    Cover image courtesy the Author.
    Mary was taken to Bomaderry Aboriginal Children's Home when she was only five years old. Now she's ten years old and living with a white family in Sydney. She doesn't fit in and starts to question why. We live Mary's emotional, psychological and physical journey through her twelve months of diary entries, explaining the collective story of the those members of the Stolen Generation removed under policies of Protection in NSW. The diary format helps to transport readers back through time to 1938 and the lead up to the Sesquintennary and the Day of Mourning Conference and protest in Sydney. (...more)
    See full AustLit entry
  • Stories for secondary students

    'Compared to resources for lower primary students, there are few novels to engage secondary students in reading about the diversity of Indigenous Australian experience. Themes of identity resonate throughout young adult as well as other Indigenous-authored literature, which in general aims to simplify the often complex subject area of identity' (Heiss, Anita, BlackWords: Serious Issues for Young Readers, 2015).

  • Harry’s War by Richard Frankland

    image of person or book cover
    This image has been sourced from online.

    Harry Saunders's decision to join the army during the Second World War and fight for his country is largely motivated by his desire to fight for the rights of Indigenous people. Harry hopes that in fighting alongside the white citizens of Australia, he will help Indigenous people to eventually win citizenship. Prejudice and racism, however, are not so easily overcome, as Harry soon finds out.

    (Source: Australian Screen.)

    (...more)
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  • Killing Darcy by Melissa Lucashenko

    image of person or book cover
    Image courtesy of UQP

    'Angry young Koori Darcy Mango is on parole, and looking for his mob in Northern New South Wales. Befriending the Menzies family wasn't at all what he had in mind, but then neither was the old house hidden in the bush near Desperation Creek. Why does the camera from the house take pictures of the past? It's Darcy's fate to find out.' (Source: UQP website)

    (...more)
    See full AustLit entry
  • Too Flash by Melissa Lucashenko

    image of person or book cover
    Cover image courtesy the author.
    '"Bring problems to us before they're too big to handle " the principal advises Zo when she arrives at her new school. But good advice isn't much help to Zo. Her mum's still a workaholic and her best friend is still a thousand miles away back home. Zo soon teams up with fifteen-year-old Missy who is cheeky, smart, a mean soccer player and believes in magic. She's all muscles and attitude like a cattle dog on the warpath. Zo is more laid back - having money makes for a bigger comfort zone even if you are fat and black. (...more)
    See full AustLit entry
  • Njunjul The Sun by Meme McDonald and Boori Pryor

    image of person or book cover
    Cover image courtesy of publisher.
    'A 16-year-old Aboriginal boy leaves his family and home for the big city, and as he struggles to make sense of his experience he realises that he must have the knowledge of his own people and culture in order to know who he is, and to find his direction.' Source: Libraries Australia. (...more)
    See full AustLit entry
  • Further readings

  • Good Morning, Mr Sarra: My Life Working for a Stronger, Smarter Future for Our Children by Chris Sarra

    Chris Sarra is best-known nationally as the school principal who turned around the toxic culture and poor attendance rates at Cherbourg State School in Queensland. Slowly, Sarra's 'Strong and Smart' vision lifted community expectations and transformed Cherbourg into a school with below-average rates of truancy, growth in student numbers and low levels of vandalism. Under Chris' leadership the school became nationally acclaimed for its pursuit of the 'Strong and Smart' philosophy and Chris' work there was featured on ABC's Australian Story (2004). (...more)
    See full AustLit entry

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