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Australia being the multicultural society that it is; faces a wealth of both problems and assets, from different foods originating from all over the world, to various religious beliefs. This is both a blessing and a curse for Australians. Children’s authors have strived to combat the problem by writing about everyday problems, in a language that children and adolescents can comprehend. The main problem of Australian society is, and has always been ‘the family unit’. Whether through bigotry and racism (“Two hands together” by Dianna Kidd), shame (“Looking for Alibrandi” by Melina Marchetta), and assets that Australian society is indeed renowned for Patriotism, Ocker-ism and ‘the Australian way’ (“Solider boy” by Anthony Hill). Children in today’s informational glut are faced with more problems than ever before. Television, ‘the internet’, computer games all strive to take away time that was once considered ‘quality family time’. As a consequence, it is refreshing to note that children’s books tackle relevant issues that most children and adolescents face in today’s busy lifestyle. Reviewed texts that revolve around such significant contemporary themes, include: : - Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta : - Two hands together by Dianna Kidd : - Soldier boy by Anthony Hill These books, whilst not only incorporating important factors of ‘family struggle’, present for the average reader interesting and easy to understand fiction. They also tackle several main issues head on, except for “Two hands together”. This novel’s main theme involves the bigotry against “black man” syndrome, a common fault numerous Australians possess. “Looking for Alibrandi” is a story of a young woman struggling to accept her cultural beliefs, whilst along the way discovering her long lost father (a result of single parenting). It deals with various issues such as teenage suicide, multiculturalism and personal acceptance. By the conclusion of the story, the main character Josephine manages to find inner contentment, along with a boyfriend and completion of her HSC exams. This book more than any other, compacts several of today’s prevalent issues in one concise volume, and has had great impact on the adolescents in our contemporary society. “Two hands together” primarily revolves around bigotry in all forms, against people ‘not like us’. In this book it is colour or racial bigotry, for example the father figure of the family betrays the aboriginals as uncivilized and trouble makers. Along the way the story further develops a domineering father character, who remembers past glory on the ‘footy’ field (again an Australian institution). He constantly displays a prejudice and discriminative attitude towards the Aboriginal family residing next door. It also introduces various issues dealing with the children and family as a whole. This remains the situation until a near family tragedy brings them together. The bigotry aspects in “Two hands together” are relevant in Australian society even in this day, as age bigotry and racism are huge issues for many Australians. “Soldier boy” presents an interesting read at first, but unfortunately it masks quite a few subliminal messages and requires several re-readings to clarify the entire message.
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