Mahtab's Story

by Libby Gleeson

Mahtab was hollow. Empty, as if her flesh and blood, her energy, that kept her breathing and running, thinking and talking, was gone. Nothing was in its place. She was hungry. Hungry for water, for her father, for her grandmother, her aunts and uncles, for the trees in the back yard, the cabinet on the wall, the silver and glass objects so lovingly collected, for her mountains, the jagged peaks that cut the sky. Her father was dead. She felt sure of it. She was just a speck of dirt on the floor, drifting through the gap between the boards, falling to the ground.

 

Mahtab and her family are forced to leave their home in Herat and journey secretly through the rocky mountains to Pakistan and from there to faraway Australia. Months go by, months of waiting, months of dread, with only memories and hopes to sustain them. Will they ever be reunited with their father, will they ever find a home? The plight of refugees from war-torn countries and what it really means to leave everything behind and to start a new life are vividly explored in this unforgettable story.

Genres: School, War, Young Adult, Fiction, Childrens, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction

186 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

"I was born in Young, a small town in south western NSW in 1950. After a few years we moved to Glen Innes, on the northern tablelands and then when I was ten we moved out west to Dubbo. We moved because my father was a schoolteacher and each change meant a promotion for him.

There were six children in the family. I was number three and there wasn't a lot of money. We didn't have television and of course there was no such thing as a computer.

Books and reading were hugely important. I remember going to the library on a Saturday morning and borrowing five or six books and reading them all by Sunday night.

When I finished High School I studied at the University of Sydney. I had a great time studying mainly history but also getting involved in lots of things happening at the University and the city. It was the time of the anti-Vietnam war protests and the rise of the Women's Movement.

I taught for two years in a small town, Picton, which is just outside of Sydney. I really enjoyed that time but I wanted to travel and in 1976 I headed off for five years. I based myself first in Italy where I taught English and then in London where I started writing my first novel, Eleanor, Elizabeth. I attended a creative writing group where the other students pushed me to write a better book. In London I also met my husband. We came back to Sydney in 1980. We've got three daughters.

When we first came back I taught at the University of NSW but now I write full-time. I've written thirty books and I've also taught occasional courses in creative writing and I've visited lots of schools to talk about my work.

I write picture books, novels for young kids and also novels for slightly older readers. I've done a book about writing and also a small amount of writing for television: Bananas in Pyjamas and Magic Mountain.

The writer's life is pretty good. It's a job where you work for yourself, in your daggy track suit, at times that suit you. What more could you ask for?"

from: http://www.libbygleeson.com.au/biogra...

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give this book a 3.5. It just didn't grab my attention. It took me so long to read this book because we were reading it to school and we barely read it. Although I did like seeing what it was like being a refugee because I it mad me realise how lucky I am and that there are people who are desperate to be in a safe country. I cried in the end but NO SPOILERS! Overall I would recommend this book to people 12-14 since younger readers don't understand.

[Saturday's Child · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I "like" about a novel such at this one is that a story based upon facts can be told and shared.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

A vivid portrayal of a family fleeing Afghanistan for Australia from the perspective of a child, including life in a detention centre and being a "boat person". Roughly written at times, occasionally shocking, but based on true events. It's important to read books like these to get some perspective... very insightful in its emotional portrayal of the asylum seeker experience.

[AyathmaB · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mahtab's story is a very good book. Libby Gleeson wrote this book being inspired by a true story. It was first published in 2008. This book is a standalone. If you have read Parvana you might like this book as it is adapted. Mahtab as the main character is very responsible and has a very strong mind. She has a family of four not including her. Her younger sister is five and is the youngest in the family. Her brother Farhad is about 7 and is very adventurous. This story is about Mahtab and her family travelling through Afghanistan, Pakistan and Indonesia. They travel in a truck then on a plane and then on a boat to Australia. There are both pros and cons about this book. I think the books I mentioned early are much better. Pros are that you gat to know what it is like to be Afghan. Also you learn that there is always a bad side to things. Personally I would rate this book 3 out of five stars.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Based on true events, this novel depicts a young Afghani girl and her family, fleeing the Taliban and ending up in Australia.
How do they escape Afghanistan? Under the floorboards at the back of a truck, winding perilously through the mountains to the border. What happens next? Mahtab must live through corruption, political contempt for refugees, family separation, trauma and displacement. Their only hope is what they will find in Australia.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

( for sose) Abloluteky loved this book. It taught me so much about moving from countries and detention camps. Thought it was a great book and would deffinately recommend it to others. Its a great immagration story and you will learn alot!

[Danielle McGregor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating 3.5*

Mahtab’s story is a good read. It isn’t thrilling but it isn’t meant to be. It’s based on a true story and one that reminds me just how lucky I am to be Australian.

[Therese · Rating 2 out of 5]

I studied Mahtab's Story during school and it wasn't anything special. I had high hopes for this book and the prologue was very captivating. I don't know why this book went wrong for me. It could have been the author's style of writing or it was the main character's personality. Mahtab overused the rhetorical questions that it no longer became effective. The ending was good but I wish the journey to her freedom could have been put into more detail. Overall it was okay and I wouldn't read this again but I recommend it to people who are bored and have nothing else to read.

[Kerryn Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A work of fiction all the more compelling because it is based on truth. It is hard to imagine that the way of life we take for granted is a precious gift to many.

[Ruby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mahtabs Story is an amazing, intense, exiting, and an interesting book. Libby Gleeson has really made me visualize the setting and the people around her, when I’m reading I can really feel how Mahtab is feeling. "Getting up in the morning, casting off the bed covers and stepping onto the rich red swirls of the carpet." Mahtab is a very strong character, I know this because she is always looking on the bright side of things., This book reminds me of the time when I had to get stitches i was looking on the bright side of things and not the the bad side... Mahtabs story reminds me of the book: The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas. because the boy runs away from the camp site and he doesn’t get caught, just like Mahtab and her family run away from Pakistan and went to Australia and didn’t get caught. i'm predicting that Mahtab and her family will arrive to Australia safely and find her dad, but she will also have to remake friends and for some reason i feel like shes going to have trouble with that...


Overall i recon Mahtab's Story is an amazing book and i recommend this book to anyone who likes reading about adventure!

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love informed ad lit. It is a great way to introduce the world, its problems, and its culture to the teenage population. This is the story of Afghan refugees and their plight to Australia. The protagonist is a young teenager who is the eldest of three children and accompanies her mother from Pakistan (where they have been temporarily left) to Australia where they're taken and put into a refugee camp until they can get visas. Meanwhile they don't know anything about their father - whether he is alive or dead, whether he's a detainee, or whether he is already working. It seems to take place over about a year's time. It was written by a teacher who had a class of juniors (year 11s) who were Afghan/Iraqi refugees, and it seems she kind of combined the stories into this one. This is another book I will give to my niece, as I think it really helps depict culture shock, as well as what political refugees have to go through to make it to a free land.

[Meaghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

As was expected, the book drags at times and can be dry. But any faults can be overlooked for the surprisingly emotional (though a bit too quickly tied up) ending. I haven't read much about immigration to "other" (that is, not the US) countries, and for that reason alone Mahtab's Story gets points. Great for use in the classroom (a la The Breadwinner) and for exposure to Afghanistan. I'm not a huge fan of Gleeson's writing style and choppy, episodic plot development, but perhaps it works in this situation, where the story spans a long period of time and strives to fit in a great number of important details of the struggles and perils that are a part of looking for a new, better life in a foreign land.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

There have been a number of these refugee experience stories over the past few years, but I’m yet to find one that captures what life in an Australian detention centre is like as well as this one. Mahtab and her family travel from Afghanistan, through Pakistan and on to Australia. Her father goes ahead and the family follow, not really know if they’ll find her father again, or what they will find in Australia. The frustration and boredom of sitting in detention is bought home in vivid detail. A very moving story.

[Bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really my type of book, we had to read it in class but it was quite good! It tells the story of a 12 year old girl escaping the Taliban in Afghanistan in the 80’s, they hide in trucks, get fake papers, go on planes and escape on illegal boats. The first half was quite intense with the truck, the mountains and the backstory, but In the second half I kind of drifted away. Maybe it’s cause I had totally forgotten what’d happened because we didn’t read it in class much, but it got a little boring near the end. I give it a three, quite a good read, but not really my type of book.

[Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mahtab's Story is an exhilerating novel about Mahtab (the main character) and her family. When Mahtab's family decide to migrate elsewhere they are put in many dangerous situations. During this time Mahtab has to be responsible for her brother and sister on many occasions. Mahtab's story was set in current times and is based on many true stories of asylum seekers.
Overall I thoroghly enjoyed this story and I would recommend it to anyone over 11.

[MrsGsLibrary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story that gives you an in-depth look at what life is like in an Australian refugee camp. If you are using this text as part of a unit of work, extend students' experience by visiting Libby Gleenson's website. She has a number of videos about the book. Another digital resource students can use is the app titled "And then I was a refugee..." written by the Australian Red Cross.

[Nive16 · Rating 5 out of 5]

its a story about a girl, who escapes from her country to australia with her family members without being seen by anybody. while on the way they face serious problems. they escape form thier home town due to civil wars.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

another high school book for my daughter.
A world that is so far fetched from mine.gave me a new perspective on what some people have had to endure and makes me be very thankful that life has been so easy for my daughter.

[LauraW · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was particularly relevant to me, because I have just returned from Australia, where stories like this were in the news. It is a painful story, covering what the newspapers don't necessarily touch on - the human side of the story.

[Addie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for school a while back ago and it was a very enlightening story that touches your heart. This has to be somewhere in the top of my list of books I read for school. I really enjoyed it and if this isn't in your school reading list, I definitely recommend for you to add it in.

[Joy Ashwell Callaway · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this story (haha) because it was very descriptive and very compelling. And I wanted her to find her father. And I wanted them to be safe. Running about in the sparkling sunlight. I also liked this book because it was short. Around 180 pages. (There was more but it won't let me save it.) :(

[Lilypride · Rating 1 out of 5]

not trying to be a pain but this book could not have been more boring i could NOT even read the whole book we did it for school
YUCK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it was okay at some points but it is quite bland
not my book at all it was @#%$

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is quite predictable, the way it ends can be predicted from the beginning, there are some very realistic events that could have happened and do happen in real life. The story is suspenseful and it make you want to read more! Very well done.

[Melina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written with some of the best descriptive writing ever, but the ending was way too rushed

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really moving story which gives the reader a good insight into the life of a refugee. Based on true case histories.

[Eurik · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story itself is moving, great, but the language, setting a plot of the book are week. The way it is supposed to be narrated by the girl herself seems somewhat clumsy to me.

[Julie James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a nice read, really goos for tweens, young teenagers.

[Cynthia]

How can I read this book on my ipad

[DSG2806 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Finished ages ago, not today...

[Consciouslawy3r]

A great story that I'll never forget.