The Lines We Cross

My tongue is tripping over the terrifically timely topics touched in The Lines We Cross. Universally relevant, remarkably well written; my personal recommendation for required reading resonates with me in an invigorating, inspirational way. Generally, offspring look up to their parents, seeing them as large-and-in-charge with all the answers. Beyond that, there is an inherent knowledge: parents are good people. (My reminder to myself when first meeting Michael) an amiable, ill-informed adolescent supporting his parents’ new political party, Aussie Values. And, it’s not as if his parents oppose Australia accepting refugees, after all. Provided the emigrants are truly fleeing persecution (as opposed to those pesky “economic refugees”’) and they arrive via the magical queue, of course. Then, Michael meets Mina. Yes, it is a boy-meets-girl story; but in a boy-meets-radioactive-spider kind of way. Mina and her mother had come to Auburn, Australia from Afghanistan ten years ago. Forced to flee Taliban occupation among horrific loss, the two persist and painstakingly, rebuild their life. A scholarship allowing Mina to attend eleventh grade at one of Australia’s top schools, affects the entire small family. They choose to move their residence, along with the family restaurant to Melbourne. Starting a new school is rarely easy. Going from “…a kaleidoscope of cultures and ethnicities,” to being a “…cultural diversity mascot,” could be unbearable. For someone who has been smuggled out of a war zone, lived in a refugee camp, traveled on a leaky boat and spent months locked in detention, it was merely infuriating. Not wanting the role of ‘refugee myth-buster’, but being too smart and courageous to keep quiet, Mina may seem too mature, thoughtful, compassionate and well-spoken to be a typical teen, but because I have the privilege of actually spending time with high school seniors, I can say that this is a spot-on representation. Ms. Abdel-Fattah has brilliantly broken-down misconceptions without beating down people to present one of the most important books I have ever read. This review was written for Buried Under Books by jv poore.