Good morning! (or afternoon, or evening, etc) It’s 3 July here in Australia, and while we may not yet have a stable government after yesterday’s election, d’you know what we have got? Yes! We’ve got the first Indigenous woman in the House of Representatives!
That’s right: Linda Burney, the new Member for Barton, is the first female Indigenous MP for Labor. And regardless of political affiliations, I think we should all be cheering that (despite the fact that it took us this long to get here).
In honour of Ms Burney’s election, and because I think we all need a bit of a boost after the strange and curious democratic process we’ve all just been through (in which there was no clear outcome, but chances are strong for a hung parliament or – agh – a return to the polls), I’m putting up today’s discussion post of The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina, and declaring a day of rejoicing for this fantastic YA novel.
The Kirkus Review of The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf declared, “If an “exhilarating dystopia” strikes you as oxymoronic, this vivid, original debut just might change your mind.” But I’m going to go back to the Kids Book Review assessment of the novel, which offered more detail: “The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf is sure to appeal to readers interested in dystopian fiction. It is also ideal for study in a high school classroom setting, offering a range of themes and issues such as discrimination, ethical leadership and the abuse of authority, the role of technology in society, environmental issues, and the different ways of bringing about change in society”.
I read Ashala Wolf over Christmas last year, and was struck by the originality of the concepts, and the particularly tricky plot-layering, all of which added up in my mind as ‘wow, this is excellent’. I loved how Ashala relied deeply on her friendships with Georgie and Ember, and the way issues of trust and memory were interwoven through the story – I was cheering Ashala all the way through. A lot of people have said that reading Ashala Wolf made them want to instantly go out and read the rest of the Tribe series – have you picked up The Disappearance of Ember Crow and The Foretelling of Georgie Spider yet?
Now here’s your chance to share what you thought of The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf – feel free to comment here, or join the discussion on the Facebook thread at #LoveOzYAbookclub. All thoughts are welcome! And stay tuned for the coming announcement of our July title, which is courtesy of Ambelin Kwaymullina and all ready to go. Enjoy the discussion, and see you ‘round!
xxEllie