SuitabookWhen Shadows Fall
Sita Brahmachari
- Reading
- Consider reading alongside the young person rather than rushing through the emotionally intense sections. Pause to discuss the changing voices and images, and check in after passages involving loss, self-harm or violence.
- Themes
- Grief and recovery: Kai’s family suffers a huge loss, and grief affects both his choices and his relationships. The story examines how loss can unsettle a young person and presents friendship, creativity and connection as important forces in moving forward.
- Friendship and agency: Orla, Zak and Om try to help Kai when he becomes excluded and increasingly disconnected. The narrative gives clear importance to friendship, understanding and agency for people who are disenfranchised.
- Prejudice and refugee experience: Om is a refugee who comes to Kai’s aid, and prejudice is identified among the book’s themes. The book creates an opportunity to consider belonging and how readers respond to a character with refugee experience.
- Worth knowing
- The book includes family loss, infant death, grief, a suicide attempt, mental illness, refugee trauma, gang culture, drugs, crime, violence, school exclusion and family breakdown.