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Beyond Borders #1
Dear Pakistan
Jamie Richards has spent most of her life in Pakistan and returning to Australia seems like another planet compared to the country she has left behind. Here in Australia, boys try to kiss her, men wear shorts and everyone says 'cool' all the time. How will she ever know the right things to say or do or wear? After all, this is meant to be her culture.
This is a story of living beyond boundaries, and discovering the gift of adapting to new cultures, especially one's own.
This is a story of living beyond boundaries, and discovering the gift of adapting to new cultures, especially one's own.
176 pages, Paperback
Published June 1, 2016
2 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Rosanne Hawke
60 books96 followersWhen little I ran around with a jotter and a pencil, pretending to write a story but not knowing how to spell any words except Dick, Dora and cat. My mother asked me to tell stories. A lot of my stories stayed in my head, as being the youngest and living in the country didn't bring many opportunities for an audience. I was born in Penola, in South Australia. We had a sheep farm until I was six, then we moved to a property in Central Queensland. I went to school at a one-teacher school in Banana, a little country town named after a bullock.
My first short story was published in the Moura State School magazine in 1967 when I was in grade 8. At 14 years, I moved back to South Australia and attended Gawler High School where I won an Arts Scholarship to complete Years 11 & 12. I started a romantic novel when I was 17 but I burnt it later.
It wasn't until I was working in the Middle East and Pakistan, teaching ESL, bringing up kids, when I started to write seriously. My kids loved the story game we played and one night after telling a story, my daughter asked me to write it down.
I have a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Adelaide and teach Creative Writing at Tabor Adelaide, South Australia, a Christian accredited tertiary institution. I have researched Cornish identity in Australian children's literature and enjoy writing about culture, faith, relationships, displacement and belonging, music and cats.
My first short story was published in the Moura State School magazine in 1967 when I was in grade 8. At 14 years, I moved back to South Australia and attended Gawler High School where I won an Arts Scholarship to complete Years 11 & 12. I started a romantic novel when I was 17 but I burnt it later.
It wasn't until I was working in the Middle East and Pakistan, teaching ESL, bringing up kids, when I started to write seriously. My kids loved the story game we played and one night after telling a story, my daughter asked me to write it down.
I have a PhD in Creative Writing from the University of Adelaide and teach Creative Writing at Tabor Adelaide, South Australia, a Christian accredited tertiary institution. I have researched Cornish identity in Australian children's literature and enjoy writing about culture, faith, relationships, displacement and belonging, music and cats.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
April 16, 2020
An Australian girl goes back to Australia,after spending years in Pakistan and struggles to readjust.
I expected something more interesting by way of culture shock and recollections of life in Pakistan.But this book was a botched mess,with nothing to interest me.
I can certainly appreciate that it can be difficult
to readjust to one's own culture after spending years away,but this book does a terrible job of depicting this readjustment.
It lacks a coherent structure and a proper story.
Very disappointing.
I expected something more interesting by way of culture shock and recollections of life in Pakistan.But this book was a botched mess,with nothing to interest me.
I can certainly appreciate that it can be difficult
to readjust to one's own culture after spending years away,but this book does a terrible job of depicting this readjustment.
It lacks a coherent structure and a proper story.
Very disappointing.
June 20, 2016
In Dear Pakistan, Rosanne Hawke takes a look at cultural differences from the perspective of a third-culture kid. Her heroine Jamie Richards has a unique perspective as an Australian kid who has spent most of her life in Pakistan and has now returned to Australia with her family so she and her siblings can complete their schooling (Jaime is in Year 11). Jamie struggles to fit in and finds it hard to see anything positive about her birth country, especially as she is teased and bullied at school for her differences.
Dear Pakistan is told from Jamie's perspective (in first person). She begins writing a journal to ‘Dear Pakistan’ and also starts writing a romantic fantasy based on a young man she'd met in Pakistan, Suneel, as a way of working through her feelings. Jamie meets a number of people from different background - Anglo-Australian, Greek-Australian, immigrants from Pakistan, refugees from Afghanistan as well as a boy from the bush, as she struggles to come to terms with the brashness of Aussie culture while finding a new balance for her love of the people and culture of Pakistan.
In many ways, Jamie's is an internal journey. Her imaginary adventures with Suneel are far more stirring and adventurous than her new life in Australia - though exciting, even scary, things do happen to Jamie too, which makes the last half of the book move faster.
Having lived in Africa from ages 9-14, I could relate to a number of Jamie's dilemmas. I appreciated how Hawke includes experiences from a range of people, including migrants, and she brings the book to a satisfying resolution. I would say I was much more team Danny than team Blake. It was interesting to show that Jamie wasn’t the only one struggling with coping with two cultures. I was surprised at a couple of things - do kids fight over Nikes these days (I thought maybe Converse but are Nikes still a thing?), or worry about Greek-Australian descent (which seemed more a thing of the 60s & 70s, with prejudice of newcomers moved on to Asian & now Middle-Eastern migrants) but then I'm from Queensland, not from South Australia, so maybe it's more of a thing there? But these are minor points, and Dear Pakistan was clearly well researched and written, with a seamless style that carried me through the book.
I loved the themes of understanding and accepting both one's own culture and the culture of others and I thought the weaving of Jamie's reflections with her journal and the story about Suneel was a creative way of telling the story.
I was thrilled to receive a free copy of Dear Pakistan in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Dear Pakistan is told from Jamie's perspective (in first person). She begins writing a journal to ‘Dear Pakistan’ and also starts writing a romantic fantasy based on a young man she'd met in Pakistan, Suneel, as a way of working through her feelings. Jamie meets a number of people from different background - Anglo-Australian, Greek-Australian, immigrants from Pakistan, refugees from Afghanistan as well as a boy from the bush, as she struggles to come to terms with the brashness of Aussie culture while finding a new balance for her love of the people and culture of Pakistan.
In many ways, Jamie's is an internal journey. Her imaginary adventures with Suneel are far more stirring and adventurous than her new life in Australia - though exciting, even scary, things do happen to Jamie too, which makes the last half of the book move faster.
Having lived in Africa from ages 9-14, I could relate to a number of Jamie's dilemmas. I appreciated how Hawke includes experiences from a range of people, including migrants, and she brings the book to a satisfying resolution. I would say I was much more team Danny than team Blake. It was interesting to show that Jamie wasn’t the only one struggling with coping with two cultures. I was surprised at a couple of things - do kids fight over Nikes these days (I thought maybe Converse but are Nikes still a thing?), or worry about Greek-Australian descent (which seemed more a thing of the 60s & 70s, with prejudice of newcomers moved on to Asian & now Middle-Eastern migrants) but then I'm from Queensland, not from South Australia, so maybe it's more of a thing there? But these are minor points, and Dear Pakistan was clearly well researched and written, with a seamless style that carried me through the book.
I loved the themes of understanding and accepting both one's own culture and the culture of others and I thought the weaving of Jamie's reflections with her journal and the story about Suneel was a creative way of telling the story.
I was thrilled to receive a free copy of Dear Pakistan in exchange for a fair and honest review.
August 5, 2016
I don't know if my review will be biased or not depending upon the the fact that I am a Pakistani. To read about Pakistan from perspective of a different person is always fascinating for me.
jameela was an Australian who was raised in Pakistan for a good period of her teenage life but then she moved back to Australia and finds it very difficult to adjust in that environment
I was expecting this book to be very different but then ( okay here come's me being biased) there were some facts which I myself fond very disturbing e.g that nose piercing reference. I don't think it's compulsory for teenage Pakistani girl to have nose piercing. I don't have one neither does my friends have any. even the married one. It's more of a fashion thing now as compared to cultural. This was bugging me through out this book :)
Now onto review, this book was enlightening in many way. Jamie was an Australian citizen But she was raised in Pakistan, In Muslim culture. So when she returned to Australia she find it very difficult to accept her OWN culture. This book do shed light on live's of immigrant especially for their children who sometime find it very difficult to adjust in that different environment and culture
jameela was an Australian who was raised in Pakistan for a good period of her teenage life but then she moved back to Australia and finds it very difficult to adjust in that environment
I was expecting this book to be very different but then ( okay here come's me being biased) there were some facts which I myself fond very disturbing e.g that nose piercing reference. I don't think it's compulsory for teenage Pakistani girl to have nose piercing. I don't have one neither does my friends have any. even the married one. It's more of a fashion thing now as compared to cultural. This was bugging me through out this book :)
Now onto review, this book was enlightening in many way. Jamie was an Australian citizen But she was raised in Pakistan, In Muslim culture. So when she returned to Australia she find it very difficult to accept her OWN culture. This book do shed light on live's of immigrant especially for their children who sometime find it very difficult to adjust in that different environment and culture
June 16, 2016
Rosanne Hawke’s YA novel, Dear Pakistan, is relevant to the problems faced today by migrants to Australia.
Published in 2016 by Rhiza Press it is the first book in the author’s Beyond Borders trilogy. It is the third edition, having being first published in 1995 by Albatross Books under the title Re-entry in the trilogy Borderland and again in 2003 by Lothian books.
The main character, Jaime Richards, was born in Australia but was taken to Pakistan by her parents when she was about four-years-old. She grew up absorbing Pakistani culture until she was sixteen, when her family returned to Australia. She had been away from home for twelve years and felt herself to be more Pakistani than Australian. The story follows Jaime’s efforts to adapt to what had become for her an alien culture, and it highlights the difficulties any of us must face in trying to find our place in a new culture or a new situation in life.
Jaime has problems relating to other students at her new school; her pain and distress will be familiar to many readers. She asks, ‘Why does everyone have to be from another culture or a different environment to understand how I feel? Why?’ She is told, ‘Because people are basically self-centred. We only know our own scene. We feel secure in that. Different ways, different people upset the equilibrium.’
Jaime keeps a journal in which she records her impressions, and she completes a class assignment about a major incident in her life in Pakistan which is shared with the reader as backstory.
The book is written as Jaime’s first person narrative but, in this reviewer’s opinion, might have been better written as a third person narrative with only Jaime’s journal entries and assignment story presented as her first person account. This would have made it easier for the author to give the reader important background details. For example, it isn’t immediately made clear that Jaimie, who is more comfortable wearing Pakistani clothes and has a nose pin after the style of Pakistani girls, isn’t herself an Australian-born Pakistani. One of the characters in the book even describes her as looking like an Indian princess. The reader is well into the book before Jaime explains that ‘just being white in Pakistan got me called beautiful. . . . It was being fair that mattered there.’
Overall, the book is a pleasure to read. The writing flows. Its strength is in the author’s firsthand experience as an aid worker in the Middle East which makes for authentic descriptions of this different culture.
The reader will want to get the next books in the trilogy to follow Jaime Richard’s adventures.
Published in 2016 by Rhiza Press it is the first book in the author’s Beyond Borders trilogy. It is the third edition, having being first published in 1995 by Albatross Books under the title Re-entry in the trilogy Borderland and again in 2003 by Lothian books.
The main character, Jaime Richards, was born in Australia but was taken to Pakistan by her parents when she was about four-years-old. She grew up absorbing Pakistani culture until she was sixteen, when her family returned to Australia. She had been away from home for twelve years and felt herself to be more Pakistani than Australian. The story follows Jaime’s efforts to adapt to what had become for her an alien culture, and it highlights the difficulties any of us must face in trying to find our place in a new culture or a new situation in life.
Jaime has problems relating to other students at her new school; her pain and distress will be familiar to many readers. She asks, ‘Why does everyone have to be from another culture or a different environment to understand how I feel? Why?’ She is told, ‘Because people are basically self-centred. We only know our own scene. We feel secure in that. Different ways, different people upset the equilibrium.’
Jaime keeps a journal in which she records her impressions, and she completes a class assignment about a major incident in her life in Pakistan which is shared with the reader as backstory.
The book is written as Jaime’s first person narrative but, in this reviewer’s opinion, might have been better written as a third person narrative with only Jaime’s journal entries and assignment story presented as her first person account. This would have made it easier for the author to give the reader important background details. For example, it isn’t immediately made clear that Jaimie, who is more comfortable wearing Pakistani clothes and has a nose pin after the style of Pakistani girls, isn’t herself an Australian-born Pakistani. One of the characters in the book even describes her as looking like an Indian princess. The reader is well into the book before Jaime explains that ‘just being white in Pakistan got me called beautiful. . . . It was being fair that mattered there.’
Overall, the book is a pleasure to read. The writing flows. Its strength is in the author’s firsthand experience as an aid worker in the Middle East which makes for authentic descriptions of this different culture.
The reader will want to get the next books in the trilogy to follow Jaime Richard’s adventures.
August 12, 2016
I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: Jamie was born in Australia but moved to Pakistan when she was little girl, about a decade later her family moves back to Australia and she struggles fitting in.
I'm actually a bit sad at how much I dislike this book because I really really wanted to like this. This book is about cultures clashing and that's also an interesting thing to discuss.
My biggest problem with this book was how rushed it felt. It was only 163 pages so it was a very quick read but I also felt like it left a lot of thoughts unfinished. And within that 163 pages we went through an entire school year. I think if this book had more to it, I would have easily added another star to it.
At the beginning of the book there was this moment where Jamie is at the mall and sees someone else who appears to be from Pakistan. She goes over to her and exchanges numbers with her and ask if they can hangout some time. I found this to be very unbelievable. It's not impossible but I can't imagine anyone just running up to someone in the mall based on how they look and exchange numbers before even knowing their name. This was something that stuck out to me when I read it and even being a week after finishing the book I still can't get over how ridiculous that scene is.
Throughout this book Jamie is trying to figure out who she is but she is getting people telling her she is Australian and not Pakistani and technically she isn't cause she wasn't born there and neither were her parents but she grew up there, grew up with the customs, food, language, clothes, etc and if she feels Pakistani I don't think it is anyone else right to tell her she isn't.
I would have liked to give this book a higher rating but it was just kind of a mess. It needs a little more work and more editing and maybe then I could apprentice the story a bit more.
Summary: Jamie was born in Australia but moved to Pakistan when she was little girl, about a decade later her family moves back to Australia and she struggles fitting in.
I'm actually a bit sad at how much I dislike this book because I really really wanted to like this. This book is about cultures clashing and that's also an interesting thing to discuss.
My biggest problem with this book was how rushed it felt. It was only 163 pages so it was a very quick read but I also felt like it left a lot of thoughts unfinished. And within that 163 pages we went through an entire school year. I think if this book had more to it, I would have easily added another star to it.
At the beginning of the book there was this moment where Jamie is at the mall and sees someone else who appears to be from Pakistan. She goes over to her and exchanges numbers with her and ask if they can hangout some time. I found this to be very unbelievable. It's not impossible but I can't imagine anyone just running up to someone in the mall based on how they look and exchange numbers before even knowing their name. This was something that stuck out to me when I read it and even being a week after finishing the book I still can't get over how ridiculous that scene is.
Throughout this book Jamie is trying to figure out who she is but she is getting people telling her she is Australian and not Pakistani and technically she isn't cause she wasn't born there and neither were her parents but she grew up there, grew up with the customs, food, language, clothes, etc and if she feels Pakistani I don't think it is anyone else right to tell her she isn't.
I would have liked to give this book a higher rating but it was just kind of a mess. It needs a little more work and more editing and maybe then I could apprentice the story a bit more.
July 12, 2016
Young Adult fiction writer, Rosanne Hawke, has written another culturally aware story that is topical for Australian readers. The main character, Jamie, is an Australian teenager, but she has been brought up in Pakistan. Her cultural awareness is so much more heightened by her experiences living overseas. When she returns to Australia, she is faced with the huge cultural and moral differences that exist between the Muslim influenced culture of Pakistan and the secular, loose moral culture of the west. She also comes face to face with ignorant racist generalisations, and has to navigate through the difficulties of being Australian, but loving people from the middle east. This book would make an excellent resource for discussion for young adults 14-17 years old.
December 4, 2017
Name: Dear Pakistan
By: Rosanne Hawke
Rating: 5 Stars
This YA story is a touching story of learning to accept change wilthout losing yourself. This is an interesting cross-cultural story that is made more interesting by the fact that Jaime has lived her most of her life in Pakastan despite being Australian by birth. This book covers the culture shock that began in the airport and continued at home, school and everywhere else. Most people she encounters expect her to act and dress like an white australian girl and can not understand why she follows Hindi and Muslim dress codes. For example, she is forced to remove her nose piercing because they are not allowed on white non-Muslim students at her school. The only thing she can see is there are no rules on behavior, speech, dress or anything else she considers important in Australia. This book does a fantastic job at presenting culture shock.Though Jaime is the focus of the book we get to see each family member and how the culture shock affects them. What make this harder for them is that others can't understand why they are having trouble. After all they are Australian. When Jaime make friends with a Pakistani girl she sees in a park she thinks that she finally has found someone who she can understand and who will understand her.
Dear Pakistan is her diary heading as she tries to understand this culture. She tells the diary all the things she can't say to her parents. It is also her way of keeping Pakistan alive. This book is excellent for any young adult who is going toa different culture or who already has. It is also a great book for those who are meeting those from other cultures so they can see what a culture looks like through another's eyes. Having spent a year living in another culture I can honestly say this is a very true depiction of culture shock including the shock of returning to the culture you came from. This would be a fantastic book for anyone planning to go as an exchange student to read,as well as students moving rural to city, small town to college town. The changes each of us face may not be as extreme and this book depicts but culture shock affects every person at one point.
It is well written and edited. I chose to review a copy I received from Netgalley.
By: Rosanne Hawke
Rating: 5 Stars
This YA story is a touching story of learning to accept change wilthout losing yourself. This is an interesting cross-cultural story that is made more interesting by the fact that Jaime has lived her most of her life in Pakastan despite being Australian by birth. This book covers the culture shock that began in the airport and continued at home, school and everywhere else. Most people she encounters expect her to act and dress like an white australian girl and can not understand why she follows Hindi and Muslim dress codes. For example, she is forced to remove her nose piercing because they are not allowed on white non-Muslim students at her school. The only thing she can see is there are no rules on behavior, speech, dress or anything else she considers important in Australia. This book does a fantastic job at presenting culture shock.Though Jaime is the focus of the book we get to see each family member and how the culture shock affects them. What make this harder for them is that others can't understand why they are having trouble. After all they are Australian. When Jaime make friends with a Pakistani girl she sees in a park she thinks that she finally has found someone who she can understand and who will understand her.
Dear Pakistan is her diary heading as she tries to understand this culture. She tells the diary all the things she can't say to her parents. It is also her way of keeping Pakistan alive. This book is excellent for any young adult who is going toa different culture or who already has. It is also a great book for those who are meeting those from other cultures so they can see what a culture looks like through another's eyes. Having spent a year living in another culture I can honestly say this is a very true depiction of culture shock including the shock of returning to the culture you came from. This would be a fantastic book for anyone planning to go as an exchange student to read,as well as students moving rural to city, small town to college town. The changes each of us face may not be as extreme and this book depicts but culture shock affects every person at one point.
It is well written and edited. I chose to review a copy I received from Netgalley.
August 11, 2016
Not fitting in is a common theme of YA literature. So, what appeared to be that theme again, started out, not to interested me. But this one had an interesting twist. This was not the story of a refugee from Pakistan trying to fit into life in Australia. This was the story of an Australian who had gone with her father, who worked with refugees, to Pakistan, who had grown up there, and then moved back to Australia, a world she didn't remember, and didn't feel a part of any more.
To help herself feel better about leaving Pakistan, the only home she remembered, she writes a fantasy about a young man her family met in passing, and weaving a love story around it. This was her way of coming to grips with what she left behind, with all the customs she had grown to know.
Interesting alieness, which we see through her eyes, which makes us be alien to her thoughts, because the readers are assumed to be from the "west", from North America or Australia, or the UK. It is both an adjustment for her, as well as for the reader.
I think this is an important book for the YA crowd. It talks about being the outsider, but also talks about refugees, and how they are treated. It took me a little while to get used to the narrator, but once I did, I enjoyed the story.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
To help herself feel better about leaving Pakistan, the only home she remembered, she writes a fantasy about a young man her family met in passing, and weaving a love story around it. This was her way of coming to grips with what she left behind, with all the customs she had grown to know.
Interesting alieness, which we see through her eyes, which makes us be alien to her thoughts, because the readers are assumed to be from the "west", from North America or Australia, or the UK. It is both an adjustment for her, as well as for the reader.
I think this is an important book for the YA crowd. It talks about being the outsider, but also talks about refugees, and how they are treated. It took me a little while to get used to the narrator, but once I did, I enjoyed the story.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
July 24, 2016
4.5 stars.
This is such a great book about teenager who grew up in Pakistan adapting to Australian culture. It really resonated with me as I was a migrant to Australia too, albeit a lot younger than the main character when we moved here.
I think Rosanne Hawke did a great job of depicting the struggles of fitting in and making new friends in a foreign culture. I couldn't help but think of Malala when I read this too and the similar struggle she went through when she started living in England. Overall a very well written book, I wouldn't mind reading the next one in the series too.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.
This is such a great book about teenager who grew up in Pakistan adapting to Australian culture. It really resonated with me as I was a migrant to Australia too, albeit a lot younger than the main character when we moved here.
I think Rosanne Hawke did a great job of depicting the struggles of fitting in and making new friends in a foreign culture. I couldn't help but think of Malala when I read this too and the similar struggle she went through when she started living in England. Overall a very well written book, I wouldn't mind reading the next one in the series too.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.
September 30, 2016
This was a very quick read, but I wish there would've been more to it. It seems there'll be another book with these characters, but this book didn't seem complete on its own. I never felt any emotion toward Jamie, positive or negative, which isn't good for a main character. I can't really name a character I did feel that way toward. I thought the idea was good and the things I learned about Pakistani culture was interesting, but I wouldn't recommend this book.
2.5 stars
2.5 stars
July 20, 2017
This was an interesting story of an Australian young girl who lived most of her life in Pakistan – Jaime then returns “home” to Australia only to find that she (and her siblings) can’t fit into a life that they previously led –even if it was for a short time. As Jaime writes pen-pal letters to her “home” of Pakistan, she talks of the differences that she can’t get over and how she’s treated. Neither is she Muslim, nor Pakistani, she still observes the culture she grew up with but is at times forced to do away with the culture she loves to assimilate in the country of her birth. I could feel Jamie’s heartbreak and confusion and I thought it was a great take on a displaced teen who didn’t fit in the country she grew up in (although she loved it dearly), nor did she fit in the country of her birth.
July 16, 2019
I give this book a 4 rating because the author has a good understanding of tensions that exist between cultures. I enjoyed the book mainly because I could relate so well to the protagonist in the story as I too have two countries that are "home". The story-line is good, and I would recommend it for teenagers or young adults.
August 18, 2016
Jaimie Richards spent whole her childhood in Pakistan where she adjusted well to local culture and traditions. At the age of 16 she returns to her homeland, Australia. The girl feels more Pakistani than Australian though, and is having problems to accommodate to new place, fit into school environment and comprehend the rules of daily life.
This is a great young adult book. I strongly believe many young people could identify themselves with Jaimie. While the author shows the difficulties of young people coming or returning to Australia, the story refers to every person who tries to fit to the new culture. It might be Pakistani coming to Australia, Turkish coming to Germany, or Polish coming to The Great Britain. Regardless the origin of people, problems and difficulties are universal.
From Jaimie’s letter we learn how painful the changes are for a young person:
"Dear Pakistan I have heard about what people go through when someone dies. Well, that is what I feel like right now. Something is dying."
Surprisingly, Jaimie’s parents are very passive characters. In fact, they play minor roles in her life. They appear here and there but I got impression they do not care or are unable to help their child, who goes through tough time. On the other hand, it happens in today’s world that teenagers deal with the pain on their own and sometimes parents are simply hopeless and cannot connect with their children.
Jaimie reminds the readers that there is also positive aspect of living in different culture:
"But that experience of living in a different culture from you own is one of the most enriching things that can happen to a person. You have a different perspective on life from the one you would have had if you had been brought up here."
The author highlights that there are places like Pakistan, where life is very simple and places like Australia, where many people get into a trap of consumerism. Nevertheless, Hawke praises Pakistan too much sometimes. To illustrate, when Jaimie compares Australia to Pakistan she describes the latter in the following way: “It was being fair that mattered there”. With all due respect for Pakistan and people who live there, women’s life is neither fair nor easy in Pakistan.
The author reminds about sad true that in many cases immigrants are perceived by host country as less educated and less valued. As a matter of fact, not all of immigrants want to live from social benefits; many migrants are well educated, hardworking and could contribute to the host countries’ societies and economies. However, they are not treated fairly like some of people coming to Australia: “Another brilliant guy driving a taxi because his experience wasn’t recognized.”
The narrator is Jaimie herself. Each chapter devoted to her life in Australia is followed by letter to Pakistan. I don’t understand why the author went for this construction. I think it would be much better for the book if she wrote about Jaimie’s life from third person perspective and Jaimie’s letters would bring a breath of fresh air.
And a few words about the book cover. It looks like Jean Sasson’s books about women in the Middle East. When my husband saw the cover he said this books is about European woman married to a Muslim. In fact, any book about Middle East involving women has the same predictable cover. Since this is young adult book, I would like to see a young girl not mature woman. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying the cover is not beautiful but I expected something more ambitious.
Dear Pakistan is a great read. I would strongly recommend it to any young person who have difficulties to adjust to the new place. On the other hand, people who never changed their place of residence might find this book helpful to understand the problems of immigrants.
Overall rating: well-deserved 5/5
I received the book through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.
This is a great young adult book. I strongly believe many young people could identify themselves with Jaimie. While the author shows the difficulties of young people coming or returning to Australia, the story refers to every person who tries to fit to the new culture. It might be Pakistani coming to Australia, Turkish coming to Germany, or Polish coming to The Great Britain. Regardless the origin of people, problems and difficulties are universal.
From Jaimie’s letter we learn how painful the changes are for a young person:
"Dear Pakistan I have heard about what people go through when someone dies. Well, that is what I feel like right now. Something is dying."
Surprisingly, Jaimie’s parents are very passive characters. In fact, they play minor roles in her life. They appear here and there but I got impression they do not care or are unable to help their child, who goes through tough time. On the other hand, it happens in today’s world that teenagers deal with the pain on their own and sometimes parents are simply hopeless and cannot connect with their children.
Jaimie reminds the readers that there is also positive aspect of living in different culture:
"But that experience of living in a different culture from you own is one of the most enriching things that can happen to a person. You have a different perspective on life from the one you would have had if you had been brought up here."
The author highlights that there are places like Pakistan, where life is very simple and places like Australia, where many people get into a trap of consumerism. Nevertheless, Hawke praises Pakistan too much sometimes. To illustrate, when Jaimie compares Australia to Pakistan she describes the latter in the following way: “It was being fair that mattered there”. With all due respect for Pakistan and people who live there, women’s life is neither fair nor easy in Pakistan.
The author reminds about sad true that in many cases immigrants are perceived by host country as less educated and less valued. As a matter of fact, not all of immigrants want to live from social benefits; many migrants are well educated, hardworking and could contribute to the host countries’ societies and economies. However, they are not treated fairly like some of people coming to Australia: “Another brilliant guy driving a taxi because his experience wasn’t recognized.”
The narrator is Jaimie herself. Each chapter devoted to her life in Australia is followed by letter to Pakistan. I don’t understand why the author went for this construction. I think it would be much better for the book if she wrote about Jaimie’s life from third person perspective and Jaimie’s letters would bring a breath of fresh air.
And a few words about the book cover. It looks like Jean Sasson’s books about women in the Middle East. When my husband saw the cover he said this books is about European woman married to a Muslim. In fact, any book about Middle East involving women has the same predictable cover. Since this is young adult book, I would like to see a young girl not mature woman. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying the cover is not beautiful but I expected something more ambitious.
Dear Pakistan is a great read. I would strongly recommend it to any young person who have difficulties to adjust to the new place. On the other hand, people who never changed their place of residence might find this book helpful to understand the problems of immigrants.
Overall rating: well-deserved 5/5
I received the book through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.
July 29, 2016
Review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley.
This story about reverse culture shock rang so real, I had to go back to the summary and make sure it was really fiction.
Jamie is still in high school when her family decides to leave Pakistan and move back to Australia so she and her siblings could continue their education. Even though she is supposed to be home, she feels like an alien, and as if she has lost her identity.
The story is narrated in first person and has few parts initially in a diary form—where Jamie changed the greeting for "Dear Pakistan—and then as a story inside the story, a kind of a what-if in case she had remained in Pakistan. I didn't like those parts for most of the book but it gradually caught me.
I haven't experienced anything close to Jamie but even I could relate to her situation. The author knew to put in words the feeling of not knowing where home is, and having lived through something though less intense I could identify word by word.
On the other hand, I still had a problem with Jamie. I have no idea how she was able to make so many friends when I couldn't feel any charisma on her part. I really wanted to like her, as I understood so well her feelings and even agreed with most of her choices, but it never happened.
The other flaw in the book was that it never engaged me. It did have a great conflict, it felt real but I didn't feel entertained. It was a very short story and easy to read, so this isn't a big loss. Still, had it been a longer book, I might have never remembered to finish it.
Even though this is the part of a series, the conclusion was more than satisfying, so I believe it can be read as a standalone. Still, I do feel curious about the next one in the series, as it brings again Jamie as the main character.
I believe it is the perfect pick for a younger public, middle-grade level. Moreover, the different point of view on Pakistan was very enriching, and would make for a heated discussion in a group, when compared to what one would usually think of the country and its costumes.
This story about reverse culture shock rang so real, I had to go back to the summary and make sure it was really fiction.
Jamie is still in high school when her family decides to leave Pakistan and move back to Australia so she and her siblings could continue their education. Even though she is supposed to be home, she feels like an alien, and as if she has lost her identity.
The story is narrated in first person and has few parts initially in a diary form—where Jamie changed the greeting for "Dear Pakistan—and then as a story inside the story, a kind of a what-if in case she had remained in Pakistan. I didn't like those parts for most of the book but it gradually caught me.
I haven't experienced anything close to Jamie but even I could relate to her situation. The author knew to put in words the feeling of not knowing where home is, and having lived through something though less intense I could identify word by word.
On the other hand, I still had a problem with Jamie. I have no idea how she was able to make so many friends when I couldn't feel any charisma on her part. I really wanted to like her, as I understood so well her feelings and even agreed with most of her choices, but it never happened.
The other flaw in the book was that it never engaged me. It did have a great conflict, it felt real but I didn't feel entertained. It was a very short story and easy to read, so this isn't a big loss. Still, had it been a longer book, I might have never remembered to finish it.
Even though this is the part of a series, the conclusion was more than satisfying, so I believe it can be read as a standalone. Still, I do feel curious about the next one in the series, as it brings again Jamie as the main character.
I believe it is the perfect pick for a younger public, middle-grade level. Moreover, the different point of view on Pakistan was very enriching, and would make for a heated discussion in a group, when compared to what one would usually think of the country and its costumes.
August 16, 2016
I was approved to read this on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is the story about an Australian girl called Jaime who has grown up in Pakistan, but returns to Australia to live and struggles to adapt to the different culture and her own identity within it.
It wasn't until Jaime was described as Anglo that I realised she was actually Anglo-Australian and not Pakistani-Australian (just describing her as 'Australian' does not necessarily conjure up images of white people). So I had to reread the beginning chapters again, and noticed my understanding of the story did change quite a bit with that one detail. I'm not sure how I feel about reading a story dealing with immigration, racism, and multiculturalism from the perspective of an Anglo girl who happens to have grown up in a different culture... seemed like a bit of a cop out (and I am a big believer in the #ownvoices movement, hearing from people with direct experience in the issues they're writing about). BUT, it did raise some interesting thoughts about how complicated cultural identity is. Jaime feels more comfortable with Pakistani culture and therefore almost identifies as Pakistani. And yet, she's not. I wanted the book to delve deeper into all these issues, but it was quite a short book, and left a lot hanging in the air. That is the nature of identity politics, there are so many different experiences and opinions... but even so, I always want more thought-provoking material. Especially for YA/middle grade, I think challenging topics is just what young readers need..
The character development seemed quite elemental - I didn't really feel connected to Jaime and sections of the book which had the potential to be quite moving (the scene with the young Afghan kid and the policeman) did not conjure up any emotion in me when I really wanted it.
This is the story about an Australian girl called Jaime who has grown up in Pakistan, but returns to Australia to live and struggles to adapt to the different culture and her own identity within it.
It wasn't until Jaime was described as Anglo that I realised she was actually Anglo-Australian and not Pakistani-Australian (just describing her as 'Australian' does not necessarily conjure up images of white people). So I had to reread the beginning chapters again, and noticed my understanding of the story did change quite a bit with that one detail. I'm not sure how I feel about reading a story dealing with immigration, racism, and multiculturalism from the perspective of an Anglo girl who happens to have grown up in a different culture... seemed like a bit of a cop out (and I am a big believer in the #ownvoices movement, hearing from people with direct experience in the issues they're writing about). BUT, it did raise some interesting thoughts about how complicated cultural identity is. Jaime feels more comfortable with Pakistani culture and therefore almost identifies as Pakistani. And yet, she's not. I wanted the book to delve deeper into all these issues, but it was quite a short book, and left a lot hanging in the air. That is the nature of identity politics, there are so many different experiences and opinions... but even so, I always want more thought-provoking material. Especially for YA/middle grade, I think challenging topics is just what young readers need..
The character development seemed quite elemental - I didn't really feel connected to Jaime and sections of the book which had the potential to be quite moving (the scene with the young Afghan kid and the policeman) did not conjure up any emotion in me when I really wanted it.
August 7, 2016
I was immediately intrigued by the blurb for this book. Having spent time in Australia and understanding how close their culture is to that of the UK, I liked the idea of a teen novel that would compare it and contrast it with that of Pakistan.
Jamie's struggle to adapt on returning to Australia is the focus of the book. We also see how her younger siblings and parents adapt and their struggles are all slightly different. The book explores racial tension well, examining misconceptions and social prejudice, and I think this makes it an interesting read for anyone.
There was however, so much focus on the examination of different cultures that there was not much of a storyline to engage me. Hawke's follow-up novel, 'The War Within', however, seems to be a lot more plot driven and I am excited to see what happens to Jamie when she decides to visit Pakistan again.
Jamie's struggle to adapt on returning to Australia is the focus of the book. We also see how her younger siblings and parents adapt and their struggles are all slightly different. The book explores racial tension well, examining misconceptions and social prejudice, and I think this makes it an interesting read for anyone.
There was however, so much focus on the examination of different cultures that there was not much of a storyline to engage me. Hawke's follow-up novel, 'The War Within', however, seems to be a lot more plot driven and I am excited to see what happens to Jamie when she decides to visit Pakistan again.
August 27, 2016
I was given this book to read for my honest feedback.
The cover pulled me in, the description sounded enticing, but honestly, this wasn't a book for me. I enjoyed the storyline when the main character, Jamie Richards, discovers the differences between her homeland of Pakistan, compared to her new life in Australia. It was realistic when other students didn't understand Jamie's way of dressing, etc as part of her Muslim culture. in her new country. It is powerful to have kids read about other cultures and may help them to be more kind to people from different cultures. However, I didn't enjoy the parts of the book when Jamie wrote in her diary, and the writing seemed just a little young for 8th grade readers and above. It might be a better book for 5th and 6th grade readers.
The cover pulled me in, the description sounded enticing, but honestly, this wasn't a book for me. I enjoyed the storyline when the main character, Jamie Richards, discovers the differences between her homeland of Pakistan, compared to her new life in Australia. It was realistic when other students didn't understand Jamie's way of dressing, etc as part of her Muslim culture. in her new country. It is powerful to have kids read about other cultures and may help them to be more kind to people from different cultures. However, I didn't enjoy the parts of the book when Jamie wrote in her diary, and the writing seemed just a little young for 8th grade readers and above. It might be a better book for 5th and 6th grade readers.
August 3, 2016
Dear Pakistan
by Rosanne Hawke
Rhiza Press
Teens & YA
Pub Date 01 Jun 2016
I was given a copy of Dear Pakinstan through the publisher wand their partnership with Netgalley in exchange for my honest review which is as follows:
When Jaime moves from Pakistan she has spent much of her life in Pakistan but in Australia men wear shorts and women wear short skirts. At first Jaime struggles with trying to fit in, in her school, she was an Australian raised in Pakistan and there's so much she doesn't understand.
Dear Pakistan tells of Jaime's struggle to adjust to life back in Australia but more than that it tells of her struggle to find out who she is.
I give Dear Pakistan five out of five stars...
Happy Reading.
July 24, 2016
I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is one of the most impressive and well written book in the YA genre I have read in a long time. Jamie is struggling in her youth as she returns to her homeland Australia. She has spent most of her life in Pakistan and following their culture. Now back in Australia the culture, customs and tolerance is very difficult for her. There is a great message in this story for all ages. Actually two messages. First, tolerance and acceptance for anyone and secondly acceptance and love for yourself. Beautifully written and very good read.
October 6, 2016
I received an arc from the publisher for review consideration (thanks Rhiza Press!) this in no way affected my review, cross my heart.
I really enjoyed this books unique perspective, I'd never heard of 3rd culture kids before. Though Dear Pakistan did have some trouble keeping my attention, in fact I don't think I was ever fully invested in the first place. I never really developed an emotional connection with any of the characters.
I believe this book is part of series, at least that's what I gleaned from the last few pages, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Personally I think Dear Pakistan is better as a standalone.
I really enjoyed this books unique perspective, I'd never heard of 3rd culture kids before. Though Dear Pakistan did have some trouble keeping my attention, in fact I don't think I was ever fully invested in the first place. I never really developed an emotional connection with any of the characters.
I believe this book is part of series, at least that's what I gleaned from the last few pages, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Personally I think Dear Pakistan is better as a standalone.
Want to read
August 26, 2016I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
BUDDY READ: Contemporary/Romance > Dear Pakistan by Rosanne Hawke - Starting September 2nd 2016
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
BUDDY READ: Contemporary/Romance > Dear Pakistan by Rosanne Hawke - Starting September 2nd 2016
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
July 31, 2016
Good book, definitely made for YA. The premise of the book was a high school girl and her family fled Pakistan and how she overcame (and most of her family) moving to Australia even though this is where she was born. It was good but not very deep and not very connecting.
Thank you netgalley for the free book.
Thank you netgalley for the free book.
September 12, 2016
I actually DNF'd it
It seems bit of opposite to what Pakistan is and being Pakistani I couldn't absorb it It was kinda negative to me! So yeah!
well it was a Bad Idea
It seems bit of opposite to what Pakistan is and being Pakistani I couldn't absorb it It was kinda negative to me! So yeah!
well it was a Bad Idea
August 15, 2016
Well written but more not much more than your average young adult/tween how to fit in novel.
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