Young Adult
Publisher: Lothian Books
DOP: 2003
ISBN: ISBN: 0734404964
price: $19.95
 

Borderland is Jaime Richard’s journey into a new world: her own culture. Although she feels as though she lives in a borderland between two countries and cultures, she learns to choose to be herself in whichever place she finds herself. The trilogy comprises Re-entry, Jihad and Cameleer.

In Re-entry, Jaime returns to Adelaide after being brought up in Pakistan. She finds fitting in difficult, more so because she didn’t expect a problem since she was coming back to Australia. Re-entry shows her responses (and her family’s) to the culture shock that she experiences as she tries to come to grips with a new world – her own culture.

In Jihad Jaime goes back to Pakistan to see her friends. It is reported to be safe there now yet Jaime is mistakenly kidnapped. Her friends Jasper and Liana try to find her with the help of a Russian girl, Sonya. Jaime’s holiday turns into an adventure in war torn Afghanistan with Jasper (who is grieving his father’s death) seeing intrigue at every turn and trying to organise an escape. He puts them in more danger than before and they fall into the power of a guerrilla group in charge of a neighbouring fort. Jaime’s friend Liana dies in the ensuring struggle but Jasper finds his father alive after all. Jaime says goodbye to Pakistan and tries to lay to rest the ghosts that have haunted her from the past. She is happy to live in a borderland but will try not to fall in the crack between the two cultures.

In Cameleer Jaime goes to the Far North to stay on the family station of her friend, Blake Townsend. She finds he has a sister, Liesa, whom he has never mentioned – a little girl who seems to have problem. Jaime tells her the story of an adventure her friend Liana had a few years before in an effort to get Liesa to like her brother. Even the Far North is like a different culture to Jaime but she learns to fit in. She meets Afghan descendants and worries that she will lose her cultural background as they seem to have. She is worried too about Blake and his responses to his sister. She uncovers the secret of how Mrs Townsend died. In the end Jaime shows Liesa how she can choose to love, and Jaime also puts this theory to the test in her own life. After 18 months in Australia, she is beginning to feel at home, even though she feels she may always walk in a borderland.

Review - Re-Entry

Re-entry is a powerful book dealing with multiculturalism and racism. Jaime is a most likeable character and her search for an identity is sure to move all teenagers… Re-entry is a most gripping novel by Rosanne Hawke (Lollipops- What's on for Kids, Jul/Aug1995, p.18)

Re-entry – very well written – this is the first book I have seen written from the perspective of a thoughtful girl who after learning to fit into an alien society has to go through the same process in her own. It's fascinating…Reading Time: (August 95, p.34)

A beautifully crafted story by a new Adelaide author for 12 plus. A memorable read.
Pegi Williams: of Re-entry:

Review - Jihad

Jihad is a challenging novel about war, politics and the Muslim world – teenagers mature during the course of dramatic events as they work through their grief, fears and need to belong. Cecile Ferguson, Lollipops – What's on for kids: (May/Jun 1996)

Rosanne Hawke brings to life memorable characters and a colourful and exotic setting in this fast moving adventure story, a real page turner that grabs you by the scruff of the neck and drags you through the action. Full of suspense and intrigue, it's about faith, courage and friendship in the face of confusion, violence, grief and hostility. It's realistic, yet refreshingly optimistic, and thoroughly readable. I found Jihad a satisfying and rewarding novel. Kate Graham, Youth Express (Spring 1996, p.22)