'Shining: The Story of a Lucky Man' by Abdi Aden with Robert Hillman

From the BLURB:

Abdi's world fell apart when he was only fifteen and Somalia's vicious civil war hit Mogadishu. Unable to find his family and effectively an orphan, he fled with some sixty others,heading to Kenya. On the way, death squads hunted them and they daily faced violence, danger and starvation. After almost four months, they arrived in at refugee camps in Kenya - of the group he'd set out with, only five had survived.

All alone in the world and desperate to find his family, Abdi couldn't stay in Kenya, so he turned around and undertook the dangerous journey back to Mogadishu. But the search was fruitless, and eventually Abdi made his way - alone, with no money in his pockets - to Romania, then to Germany, completely dependent on the kindess of strangers. He was just seventeen years old when he arrived in Melbourne. He had no English, no family or friends, no money, no home. Yet, against the odds, he not only survived, he thrived. Abdi went on to complete secondary education and later university. He became a youth worker, was acknowledged with the 2007 Victorian Refugee Recognition Award and was featured in the SBS second series of ‘Go Back to Where You Came From’.

Despite what he has gone through, Abdi is a most inspiring man, who is constantly thankful for his life and what he has. Everything he has endured and achieved is testament to his quiet strength and courage, his resilience and most of all, his warm-hearted, shining and enduring optimism.

‘Shining: The Story of a Lucky Man’ is the biography of Abdi Aden, written with Robert Hillman.

Abdi Aden’s story begins like any other – he’s a happy kid from a loving family, living in soccer-mad Somalia. Then in 1991 civil war breaks out in Mogadishu, and Abdi’s world falls apart.

What follows next is Abdi’s harrowing story of survival when, at just 15-years-old, he’s forced to flee the violence and death squads and make his way to Kenya.

I am lonely, I am exhausted. But for the fact that I desperately want to remain alive, I would be happy to die.

From there the journey takes a sickening twist, as the refugee camp turns out to be as dangerous as what Abdi has been fleeing from. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees sets up the camp in north-east Kenya, and it becomes the world’s biggest refugee camp; an indication of the scale of violence breaking out across Somalia. The camp was too dangerous for UNHCR and so abandoned, which left the refugees effectively looking at starvation and slow death – so Abdi fled again.

What follows is both an incredible story, and an incredible reminder of why stories like Abdi’s and those portrayed on SBS shows like ‘Go Back to Where You Came From’ are so important. Abdi’s story highlights the breakdown of the “system” when people get caught up in wars and violence – then the imaginary “queue” goes out the window, and the absolute breakdown of organisations designed to help refugees and asylum seekers buckles under the pressure and people are forced to survive any way they can.

Abdi’s survival story sees him searching for his family by making his way back to the Mogadishu he had run from – on the slim chance that he has not been left alone in this world. The story then tracks all over the globe – from Europe to Australia, where Abdi eventually settles into an extraordinary life and he makes the inspiring most of his freedom.

This is a remarkable story and a gripping read. I began reading, knowing the happy ending that awaits Abdi in Austraila (as he’s been doing a fantastic media turn, promoting his book) I still found myself riveted to the page, desperate to know what happened next in the chapters of his life …

The book also has quietly powerful moments of reflection, like when Abdi sees Frankfurt airport for the first time and is struck by the sheer wealth and hope in such a display of prosperity, in stark contrast to his Somalia;

Sure, I knew that Big Europe was rich, but this rich? No, no. When can Somalia be as rich as this? In a thousand years? That’s what’s so scary. Right now, our main industry is murder. Or maybe I’m too pessimistic. A few decades ago, Germany’s main industry was murder, to – more murders than in Somalia, many, many, many more. And the whole country was smashed to pieces, like Somalia. Maybe there’s hope for us.
 

And it’s probably a reflection of how much time Abdi spent in transit as a refugee, that one of his most powerful reflections upon arriving in Australia also happens at Melbourne airport, when he encounters racism for the first time and is made to feel like a criminal for the colour of his skin;

I’m going to learn in the years ahead that the whole of this continent of Australia once belonged to people whose skin colour was much darker than my own, and that they were considered (for the most part) to be of no importance to the white people who took their ancestral lands from them. And I will learn, too, of what was known as the ‘White Australia Policy’ and slogans such as ‘Australia for the white man’. But I come from a country where everyone is black or brown, coffee-coloured, chocolate-coloured, some blacker than boot leather. There is no discrimination in Somalia, not against dark-skinned people or fair-skinned people.

I appreciated that fact that Abdi spoke about his troubles in Australia – he was missing home and his family and this country wasn’t always welcoming. His side of the story rings so true, and makes those calls of “If you don’t like it – go back to where you came from!” all the more infuriating, because they fail to acknowledge how racist (sometimes even subversively so) Australia is, that those fleeing from extremely multi-cultural and diverse countries are made to always feel like outsiders in this country which should be their safe haven.

I’ve been saying ever since I finished this book that I’d like to see it on reading lists in high schools all over Australia. It’s such a powerful story – harrowing, of course – but also brimming with hope and celebration and important reflections on contemporary Australia culture.

Then I look around me at this big country I’ve come to, and I’m okay. I’m happy. I’m Nuurow, the Shining One. Parties, music, good food to eat, of course I’m happy. The last time I even glimpsed a soldier was in Bucharest. Where are the Australian soldiers? Haven’t seen one.

I loved this book, I cannot recommend it highly enough – it’s one of those books I want to get up on a soapbox about!

5/5

Choose Aussie YA - #LoveOzYA readalikes part FOUR

Hello Darling Readers!

Yes! It’s that time when I do another ‘readalikes’ post – yay! (or are you sick of them by now? … Who cares?! I’m having fun!)

This readalikes has a “nonfiction” theme, because YA-nonfiction is having a bit of a moment in Australia and I, for one, am thrilled about it! I was inspired to this topic, partly because Clare Wright got me thinking about it when she gave a talk about women erased from Australian history at Reading Matters, and because I just finished reading Abdi Aden’s memoir ‘Shining: The Story of a Lucky Man’ and my first thought was “this should be required reading in all high-schools!”

So, onwards – !

Wonder by R J Palacio→ 

Ugly (younger readers) by Robert Hoge

Robert Hoge’s 2013 ‘Ugly: My Memoir’ is being released for a younger audience and I think this is a smashing idea and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy! I’ve been following Hoge’s career for a while now, and I just love his writing and particularly his commentary around physical-diversity and how important it is to embrace “ugly” in this beauty-obsessed world of ours. Here are two pieces of his that I highly recommend you read: one from The Drum and his Australian story. 

I also think it’s very clever marketing that his book is orientated to riff off of RJ Palacio’s ‘Wonder’ – which has been a runaway bestseller, and while not technically YA, I know all age-groups have embraced this book (you know you’ve written across generations when they bring out an “adult” cover version). I really hope that an Australian Writers Festival cottons onto the idea to bring RJ Palacio our here and have her and Robert Hoge in a Q&A together – because both their books are sparking much-needed conversations around outward/inner beauty … and because I kinda love that while Palacio just wrote about it, Robert Hoge has lived it and I think their insights into how readers have embraced their messages would be fascinating.

And I’m also a little bit thrilled that Robert Hoge will be at ‘Write Around The Murray’ in September, because I’m also on the schools program, and I am definitely going to sneak into a few of his sessions!

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo→ 

Shining: The Story of a Lucky Man by Abdi Aden

Abdi Aden’s book blew me away. I read it over the weekend and was just alternating between snot-nosed crying and fist-pumping joy for this man’s journey. It’s about how; ‘Abdi's world fell apart when he was only fifteen and Somalia's vicious civil war hit Mogadishu.’ It tells of his time spent in a refugee camp in Kenya, and then his decision to go back to Mogadishu in a desperate search for his family … all the way through to his arriving in Australia and the even more incredible journey of resettlement that followed. I read this and my overwhelming wish was to put this book in the hands of every Australian high school student by making it required-reading in schools (and, - hey! If you want to join me in appealing to VCAA, here’s the link!)

I think NoViolet Bulawayo’s Man Booker Prize-shortlisted book is a fitting readalike (even though it’s fiction) because both she and Aden deal so beautifully and heart-breakingly with the pain of leaving your life behind. And because both books are focused on the coming-of-age aspects of resettlement, in many ways (a majority of ‘Shining’ deals with Aden’s life from ages 15 to 17).

Women Heroes of the American Revolution: 20 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Defiance, and Rescue by Susan Casey → 

We Are the Rebels: The Women and Men Who Made Eureka by Clare Wright

Like I mentioned before, I heard Clare Wright speaking at Readings Matters this year and was really excited to read her YA-version of her Stella Prize-winning nonfiction book ‘The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka’. Her book is quite radical, because it’s butting-up against long-held assumptions about women’s roles in a major Australian historical event – the Eureka Stockade. And, actually, when you put this book in kids’ hands and start them thinking about the wrong history of Eureka, it’s going to send them down the rabbit-hole to think more critically about how women are wrongly portrayed throughout history, and beyond … isn’t that exciting?

So I think Susan Casey’s ‘Women Heroes of the American Revolution’ is an interesting readalike for obvious reasons – because she’s likewise taken an iconic historic event and is asking people to think beyond the oft-studied heroes and landmarks. The difference perhaps being that the women Casey is writing about are somewhat known in American history, just not as well as they should be – whereas Wright’s book is unearthing history that has never been studied, let alone in Australian schools.

Binge by Tyler Oakley→ 

How to Be Happy: A Memoir of Love, Sex and Teenage Confusion by David Burton

This one’s a bit of a cheat because both books aren’t out yet, so I can only speculate wildly on their readalike-ness (?)

I have heard David Burton speak though, and read a chapter-sampler of his forthcoming ‘How To Be Happy’ (releasing August 26) and I was so impressed that I booked to attend several of his sessions at Brisbane Writers Festival – which I’m super excited about! Because Burton’s memoir is just what Aussie YA needs right now – a candid exploration into ‘Love, Sex and Teenage Confusion’. There’s been a Guardian article floating around lately ‘Falling Out of Love with YA’ in which the young author has totally legitimate concerns about how so many YA books feel same-same and not too challenging … which, I think, doesn’t translate to YA turning sub-par but rather readers craving more complex stories that aren’t currently being pushed to the forefront of the readership. I think David Burton’s memoir is going to be the book that hits that spot this year.

I like YouTube-star-turned-author Tyler Oakley’s ‘Binge’ as a readalike (releasing October 2015) because he’s one of the (alarmingly) few diverse voices coming out of the vlogging world at the moment – and he is an LGBT+ advocate, so I can only hope that his book will touch on some issues around love, sex and confusion too.

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen→ 

Bad Behaviour by Rebecca Starford

I am so far behind in my book reviews this year – suffice to say, I have read ‘Bad Behaviour’, I loved ‘Bad Behaviour’ and I’m very excited that ‘Bad Behaviour’ has been optioned for TV!

So Kaysen’s ‘Girl, Interrupted’ (which was famously adapted into an amazing film of the same name with Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie) might seem like a pretty out-there readalike. After all, ‘Bad Behaviour’ is a memoir about Starford’s teen years at an elite country boarding school with a strong focus on the bullying that occurred there, and ‘Girl, Interrupted’ is a memoir about Kaysen’s life from age 18 living with a bunch of fellow teenage girls in a psychiatric hospital during the 1960s. I’m not suggesting that Starford’s boarding school was exactly like a psychiatric ward … but, actually, kinda yeah.

I also like these as readalikes for the observations around all-female company, and how that can sometimes devolve into anarchy. Neither book may be strictly YA – but I think teens should definitely make their way to them.