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Girl Underground
Trying to fit in at a posh new school is really hard when your loving and lovable family also happen to be criminals. Bridget is succeeding pretty well and has even made a friend, Menzies, the son of the federal Minister for National Development. Then she finds out about Menzies' penfriend, Jamal, a refugee kid from Afghanistan held in a detention centre. When daring appeals to the government and the prime minister himself fail to set Jamal and his sister free, Bridget and Menzies decide to take matters into their own hands. Sometimes the only way to make things happen is to do them yourself. A story of friendship, courage and Iraqi blenders from the best-selling author of Boy Overboard.
184 pages, Paperback
First published June 7, 2004
70 people are currently reading
540 people want to read
About the author
Morris Gleitzman
121 books977 followersMorris began his writing career as a screenwriter, and wrote his first children's novel in 1985. His brilliantly comic style has endeared him to children and adults alike, and he is now one of Australia's most successful authors, both internationally and at home. He was born in England in 1953 and emigrated to Australia in 1969 so he could escape from school and become a Very Famous Writer.
Before realising that dream, he had a colourful career as paperboy, bottle-shop shelf-stacker, department store Santa Claus, frozen chicken defroster, fashion-design assistant and sugar-mill employee. In between he managed to gain a degree in Professional Writing at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. Later he became sole writer for three award-winning and top-rating seasons with the TV comedy series The Norman Gunston Show.
Morris wrote a number of feature film and telemovie screenplays, including The Other Facts of Life and Second Childhood, both produced by The Australian Children's Television Foundation. The Other Facts of Life won an AWGIE Award for the Best Original Children's Film Script.
He also wrote live stage material for people such as Rolf Harris, Pamela Stephenson and the Governor General of Australia. Morris is well known to many people through his semi-autobiographical columns in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald magazine, Good Weekend, which he wrote for nine years.
But the majority of Morris' accolades are for his hugely popular children's books. One of his most successful books for young people is Two Weeks with the Queen, an international bestseller which was also adapted into a play by Mary Morris. The play had many successful seasons in Australia and was then produced at the National Theatre in London in 1995 directed by Alan Ayckbourn, and also in South Africa, Canada, Japan and the USA.
All his other books have been shortlisted for or have won numerous children's book prizes. These include The Other Facts of Life, Second Childhood, Misery Guts, Worry Warts, Puppy Fat, Blabber Mouth, Sticky Beak, Belly Flop, Water Wings, Bumface, Gift Of The Gab, Toad Rage, Wicked! and Deadly!, two six-part novels written in collaboration with Paul Jennings, Adults Only, Toad Heaven, Boy Overboard, Teacher's Pet, Toad Away, Girl Underground, Worm Story, Once, Aristotle's Nostril, Doubting Thomas, Give Peas A Chance, Then, Toad Surprise, Grace, Now, Too Small To Fail, and his latest book, Pizza Cake. Morris' children's books have been published in the UK, the USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia and Czechoslovakia, Russia and China.
Before realising that dream, he had a colourful career as paperboy, bottle-shop shelf-stacker, department store Santa Claus, frozen chicken defroster, fashion-design assistant and sugar-mill employee. In between he managed to gain a degree in Professional Writing at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. Later he became sole writer for three award-winning and top-rating seasons with the TV comedy series The Norman Gunston Show.
Morris wrote a number of feature film and telemovie screenplays, including The Other Facts of Life and Second Childhood, both produced by The Australian Children's Television Foundation. The Other Facts of Life won an AWGIE Award for the Best Original Children's Film Script.
He also wrote live stage material for people such as Rolf Harris, Pamela Stephenson and the Governor General of Australia. Morris is well known to many people through his semi-autobiographical columns in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald magazine, Good Weekend, which he wrote for nine years.
But the majority of Morris' accolades are for his hugely popular children's books. One of his most successful books for young people is Two Weeks with the Queen, an international bestseller which was also adapted into a play by Mary Morris. The play had many successful seasons in Australia and was then produced at the National Theatre in London in 1995 directed by Alan Ayckbourn, and also in South Africa, Canada, Japan and the USA.
All his other books have been shortlisted for or have won numerous children's book prizes. These include The Other Facts of Life, Second Childhood, Misery Guts, Worry Warts, Puppy Fat, Blabber Mouth, Sticky Beak, Belly Flop, Water Wings, Bumface, Gift Of The Gab, Toad Rage, Wicked! and Deadly!, two six-part novels written in collaboration with Paul Jennings, Adults Only, Toad Heaven, Boy Overboard, Teacher's Pet, Toad Away, Girl Underground, Worm Story, Once, Aristotle's Nostril, Doubting Thomas, Give Peas A Chance, Then, Toad Surprise, Grace, Now, Too Small To Fail, and his latest book, Pizza Cake. Morris' children's books have been published in the UK, the USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia and Czechoslovakia, Russia and China.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
November 16, 2015
This book was a pile of poo. It was shallow, Inconsistent and repetitive. Honestly i dont think we have to hear about what country every single inanimate object is from. The characters are unrealistic and boring. It teaches kids that there is only one side to every argument that is right. In the book the adults are always the "Bad Guys" and seem like a typical villain. They make it seem like the government is bad and must be the villain. The kids also pull of impossible feats such as sneaking into the parliament house, witch is very unrealistic for a book that claims to be so.
All in all its a shallow book with little plot or story line. Repetitive and doeskin hook you in.
1/10
All in all its a shallow book with little plot or story line. Repetitive and doeskin hook you in.
1/10
October 31, 2012
If I wasn't forced by my "hateful" English teacher to read a book in the library. I would have never read this book. I loved it! I seriously fell in love with the character. And it makes me think of what I can do to those people. They shouldn't be locked up like animals! Aussie classic!
June 28, 2012
I had to read this book for school and found it really boring and dull but that was just me. It was interesting about the assylem seekers though.
October 17, 2012
*takes a deep breath* WHAT THE HELL??!! msDGajrhkhjbjhjdjhngb I am sooo disappointed in this book! Like Boy Overboard was ledgendary, and now you give me this??? I can't even explain how depressed and ugggg... i cant even get to the point. If you loved Boy Overboard, in my opinion, your going to get real damn shocked at this.
January 28, 2018
A funny adventure story with some serious undertones that are very relevant in Australia today - the treatment of refugees. Morris Gleitzman is the master of writing about difficult subject matter in a light-hearted way that still honours the seriousness of such topics. Themes of friendship, loyalty and standing up for what you believe in.
October 9, 2017
I love the writing of Morris Gleitzman. He's not only entertaining, he writes about social justice issues in a way that's easily accessible to children. This book deals with asylum seeker children in detention, highlighting the fact that even the kids in our society are capable of seeing injustice and calling it out for what it is.
January 24, 2021
I liked that Morris Gleitzman has written the book in a light humorous way that makes it easy to listen to. At the same time issues such as refugee detention, friendship, social justice and tolerance are an integral part of the story.
November 26, 2012
This book to me is to books what Michael Moore's movies are to documentaries. It feels like we are forced to think "oh those poor kids in those detention centers. We must help them." I read this in grade 8 and the bait Morris Gleitzman seems to throw out seemed to have worked on every kid in my class. There is a reason why The Australian Government won't let in people from Afghanistan (or any place like that), whereas this book says that there really is no reason why people are locked up in detention centers. I mean sure there are innocent people locked up in there, and of course I feel sorry for them - Who wouldn't. But this book seems to have only one side to the story, which is clearly not good.
The plot is also full of inconsistencies. I know a family (even a family of criminals) would want what is best for their children. However what they seem to do is send off their daughter into a boarding school (with kids whose parents have government jobs). The inconsistency happens when they find out that she is of a family of criminals, they only expell her from her school instead of arresting the family.
I really wouldn't recommend this book for anybody. It is a one-sided argument with inconsistencies.
The plot is also full of inconsistencies. I know a family (even a family of criminals) would want what is best for their children. However what they seem to do is send off their daughter into a boarding school (with kids whose parents have government jobs). The inconsistency happens when they find out that she is of a family of criminals, they only expell her from her school instead of arresting the family.
I really wouldn't recommend this book for anybody. It is a one-sided argument with inconsistencies.
April 29, 2009
I felt irritated by the author's obvious ulterior motive, ie to 'educate' kids about the issue of assylum seekers in australia. And in any case I thought he presented the issue in a very biased and one-sided way. I don't profess to know much about the issue or have an opinion on it either way but the whole way through I kept thinking "I want to hear the other side of the story." The kids were made out to be the goodies and the adults were The Baddies, so whenever the kids asked the adults questions they'd just sort of umm and ahh and dodge the question. It was unrealistic.
November 7, 2011
Sweet story of a young girl who tries to do the right thing. With a friend she makes at her new school, she tries to help refugees who are kept in a prison-like environment and the story is how she tries to help them without getting her family in trouble.
February 4, 2015
This book is really good. It is about a girl called Bridget and a boy called Menzies on their mission to free 2 refugee kids from a refugee detention center. I really like how Bridget and Menzies don't give up on their mission even though they wen through much trouble on their journey.
May 23, 2018
Disappointing. Loved Two Weeks with the Queen but this was too political and too unrealistic. Shallow characters and an unbelievable narrative that trivialised the issue more than making a political statement.
June 4, 2012
This book was an ok book, it was exciting, but it was quite boring sometimes!
November 10, 2015
Introduces more to 'boy overboard' and shows what one person can do if they feel passionate enough.
August 4, 2011
Morris Gleitzman-Pure Genius
September 2, 2018
Girl Underground is a great book. It has two main characters who travel around Australia and go to Parliament House in Canberra. I would say that the book is aimed at children 8 years and older, although I know adults who enjoyed it as well. The genres are action and adventure with a bit of drama. I especially liked the introduction of this book because of the great hook, ‘I should be arrested for this’. This first line had me wanting to read more right from the beginning.
The story is about a girl named Bridget and a boy called Menzies who come from totally different family backgrounds but come together to save refugees in the ARDC (Australian Refugee Detention Centre). It is about how their friendship is formed, how they plan to free the people locked inside, with lots of shenanigans along the way.
Bridget is a kind, determined and brave girl and her best friend Menzies is similar because he is also kind, determined and full of courage. They are both kind hearted which is shown by them wanting to help free the refugees and showed determination when they walked for hours to get to the ARDC, then dug a huge hole to save kids who are locked inside the detention centre.
Main themes of the book are power and friendship. Power was demonstrated when Bridget and Menzies manage to get a towns worth of people to stand up for them and friendship is especially shown on pages 29-30, but I won’t give it away and let you enjoy it yourself!
Girl Undergound is an amazing book. It has great messages behind it, such as to never take friends for granted, and to stand up for people who aren’t able to do it for themselves. If I had to change one thing about the book, I would make sure that it didn’t jump too much from topic to topic which it did at times, otherwise it was great!
I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did. It made me feel both happy and sad while I was reading it, and I didn’t want to put it down. I rate Girl Undergound by Morris Gleitzman 9/10.
The story is about a girl named Bridget and a boy called Menzies who come from totally different family backgrounds but come together to save refugees in the ARDC (Australian Refugee Detention Centre). It is about how their friendship is formed, how they plan to free the people locked inside, with lots of shenanigans along the way.
Bridget is a kind, determined and brave girl and her best friend Menzies is similar because he is also kind, determined and full of courage. They are both kind hearted which is shown by them wanting to help free the refugees and showed determination when they walked for hours to get to the ARDC, then dug a huge hole to save kids who are locked inside the detention centre.
Main themes of the book are power and friendship. Power was demonstrated when Bridget and Menzies manage to get a towns worth of people to stand up for them and friendship is especially shown on pages 29-30, but I won’t give it away and let you enjoy it yourself!
Girl Undergound is an amazing book. It has great messages behind it, such as to never take friends for granted, and to stand up for people who aren’t able to do it for themselves. If I had to change one thing about the book, I would make sure that it didn’t jump too much from topic to topic which it did at times, otherwise it was great!
I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did. It made me feel both happy and sad while I was reading it, and I didn’t want to put it down. I rate Girl Undergound by Morris Gleitzman 9/10.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 17, 2019
Not as believable as the previous book, but a story which gives an answer to the question about what happened to Jamal and Bibi.
In this book, Bridget is sent to a posh school because her parents want to give her a better opportunity than she could have from their family; maybe even losing the taint of being from a family of criminals.
It is hard for her though, because every moment, she is sure she will do something that will make the other posh kids realise her own background.
Whilst hiding and keeping to herself, trying to avoid being asked questions, she meets Menzies.
Menzies has a bodyguard! But he is cross and sad over something more than being separated from his parents. He is broken-hearted over the way Australia is treating the refugees...especially the children. He shows her a letter from Jamal, and she understands why he is so distraught. And besides, his father is a Minister (under threat by terrorists, which is why the bodyguard).
Even though this fact makes Bridget more worried about her background coming to light, the friendship grows.
And the concern for Jamal and Bibi and other kids in the detention centre grows also, to the point where they know they have to do something!
I am not sure of recent Australian history and policy on refugees, but it makes me wonder if things have changed and what the catalyst was since the book was written. I listened to an audio recording by BorrowBox released in 2011. Is there more hope now 8 years on?
In this book, Bridget is sent to a posh school because her parents want to give her a better opportunity than she could have from their family; maybe even losing the taint of being from a family of criminals.
It is hard for her though, because every moment, she is sure she will do something that will make the other posh kids realise her own background.
Whilst hiding and keeping to herself, trying to avoid being asked questions, she meets Menzies.
Menzies has a bodyguard! But he is cross and sad over something more than being separated from his parents. He is broken-hearted over the way Australia is treating the refugees...especially the children. He shows her a letter from Jamal, and she understands why he is so distraught. And besides, his father is a Minister (under threat by terrorists, which is why the bodyguard).
Even though this fact makes Bridget more worried about her background coming to light, the friendship grows.
And the concern for Jamal and Bibi and other kids in the detention centre grows also, to the point where they know they have to do something!
I am not sure of recent Australian history and policy on refugees, but it makes me wonder if things have changed and what the catalyst was since the book was written. I listened to an audio recording by BorrowBox released in 2011. Is there more hope now 8 years on?
November 3, 2017
Girl from a family involved in not perfectly legal business enters an expensive private school. Her main (only) concern is that she may reveal a murky nature of her father's business to the world.
In the boarding house she meets a son of a politician, who (son not the father) is concerned with well being of children living in a refugees camp. No, it is not Manus Island, it is in Australian outback, year 2004. What struck me is that in the book mail posted in the Australian outback reached Canberra in couple of days. Now it would be week.
Children of this concern will be familiar to people who read A boy overboard by the same author.
Unfortunately this sequel is much weaker than the first part.
It is dominated by this overwhelming scare of betraying the real nature of Dad's business and by list of all countries from Albania to Mongolia, which produce cheap imitations of products with renowned labels.
In the boarding house she meets a son of a politician, who (son not the father) is concerned with well being of children living in a refugees camp. No, it is not Manus Island, it is in Australian outback, year 2004. What struck me is that in the book mail posted in the Australian outback reached Canberra in couple of days. Now it would be week.
Children of this concern will be familiar to people who read A boy overboard by the same author.
Unfortunately this sequel is much weaker than the first part.
It is dominated by this overwhelming scare of betraying the real nature of Dad's business and by list of all countries from Albania to Mongolia, which produce cheap imitations of products with renowned labels.
October 4, 2025
Never really finished this book but I read it with a book club group in school as a follow up to the first one, Boy Overboard.
The story in itself wasn’t all that bad and although I don’t think I got past the first third of it I never really hated it more or less just found some of it confusing but I admit that may have been because I was 11 at the time and didn’t find reading refugee books fun anymore. It was a good book though, I nice follow up and punch in the face for the reality some people live in.
The story in itself wasn’t all that bad and although I don’t think I got past the first third of it I never really hated it more or less just found some of it confusing but I admit that may have been because I was 11 at the time and didn’t find reading refugee books fun anymore. It was a good book though, I nice follow up and punch in the face for the reality some people live in.
April 17, 2018
This was my second Morris Gleitzman read. My 12-year-old daughter and I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated in true Aussie. This fitted with being set in Australia. The leading lady, Bridget White, is 12 years old but this would be more of interest to 10-year-old girls or boys.
As New Zealanders, we have heard of the Detention Centres that Australia has used to cope with its perceived refugee problem. It would be interesting for fair-minded children.
As New Zealanders, we have heard of the Detention Centres that Australia has used to cope with its perceived refugee problem. It would be interesting for fair-minded children.
January 15, 2020
Loved this book so much! As well as raising the very real issue of Australia's dodgy immigration detention policies, this book tackles the topics of what it means to be a good person and how to do something about the things that concern you. Briget and her crim family are a funny and brilliant contrast to those who should know better. Perfect book for junior readers and anyone who likes a laugh.
February 2, 2020
This book was published in 2004 and sadly, referring to human beings as numbers in 2020 has not stopped. It is a deliberately dehumanising tactic. I am in abject despair over what happens in our country to this day. Thank you MG, I will share this with all the young folk I am able to (I am surrounded by lots!) to try to better educate and create more empathic Australians.
August 25, 2023
I'll be honest, I only read this because I accidentally bought it instead of Boy Overboard, but I'm glad I did. It's a nice book for what it is. Not as good as Boy Overboard, but still a good children's novel.
January 3, 2018
really interesting book, leads on from boy overboard but it was a gr8 story about refugees, politican, and the measures a father would do to save his family.
April 1, 2019
Good book. I like the way that Bridget has such a strong political opinion. I wish there was a sequel as good as this to a Girl Underground.
April 11, 2019
Amazing
May 14, 2020
It is written with easy, simple language. The story is actually a lot better than what I expected. It's been long since I have finished any single book.
August 5, 2020
It is a great book!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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June 4, 2021Alright ok but a bit messy still nice to read
January 21, 2022
It's an amazing book about how much some young kids care for those in need
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews