carlamonaco

**Edited by**: Anita Heiss


==== The main character in this novel is Mary Talence, a young Aboriginal girl who battles a hard life after being taken away from her family and put up for adoption. When she left she had to leave her mum, brother and sisters behind. Mary Talence was only 5 when she was ‘a stolen child’. ====

==== The book follows Mary’s journey from her home in south Australia where she was happily living with her family. The story is set in 1937 in Australia and is about the stolen generation. Mary gets taken from her home and moved to Bomaderry Children’s Home. This is an adoption centre for Aboriginal Girls. Mary describes that only the ‘lighter girls’ could go here. Mary describes how harrowing being removed from her family felt and how she has left her family. From Bomaderry Children’s Home, Mary was then moved to a rich white family. This is where the story takes off. The rest of the book details the happenings of her daily life. It’s not a very happy story. The story is written in diary form by Mary, which makes it even sadder. ====

==== The most important relationship in the story is Mary and Dot’s. Dot is an older Aboriginal woman who secretly helps Mary through her days. Dot has experienced the same things as Mary, which creates a very deep bond for them both. They had to keep their friendship hidden from the public. ==== ==== This book made me think about how hard life was for Aboriginals and maybe even still is. I feel really sorry for Mary in this story. You see the other side of things in this story. This book is the diary of one girl who was a part of the stolen generation and it makes me feel upset because this is only one girl and there were hundreds of people like her who experienced the same thing. ====

==== **Personal Response**: Yes I did enjoy this novel very much. There were many sad moments in this book. The most upsetting one was were a lady tried to scrub Mary so hard so that her “dirty” black skin would wash away. I found this part very disturbing. This is a book written in diary form. This book is for people aged 10+. ====