AustLit

'David and his pet mouse, Jack, were visiting Granny and Grandpa when heavy rains flooded the farm. As the water subsides Grace, the cow, is left stuck in a tall tree. Would the animals rescue her? And how would they do it?

'After initial opposition to helping Grace they realize that it is natural to look after one another. David and Jack lead the animals in the construction of the biggest, fastest and most beautiful slide in the whole world. Everyone has a part to play from the ducklings to Polly pig. Their amazing creation is not revealed until the very end. Grace is full of gratitude as she lands in the wool lined giant nest at the bottom of the slide. Even Richie, the selfish rat, learns that everyone has something to give when he plays a pivotal role in setting Grace free.' (Publication Summary)

'These stories were collected through two nationwide writing competitions in 2002 and 2004 by Australians Against Racism Inc, a creative grassroots human rights and social justice organisation that was formed in 2001. Both competitions asked young people to use an interview or direct personal experience of displacement as their starting point, and then left them free to choose whether to write their story as fiction or essay. [...]

'Following the competition in 2002, we edited the hugely successful anthology Dark Dreams: Australian Refugee Stories by Young Writers Aged 11-20 Years [...]. No Place Like Home is both the second anthology in what we hope will be a series, and unique. [...]

'This volume includes stories of hatred and tolerance; rejection and love; acceptance and alienation; war, aftermath and resolution; fear and hope; great suffering and great heroism; small journeys and unimaginably huge journeys' (pp. 1 & 2).

'Dark Dreams: Australian refugee stories is a unique anthology of essays, interviews, and stories written by children and young adults. The stories are the finest of hundreds collected through a nationwide schools competition in 2002. The essays and stories represent many different countries and themes. Some focus on survival, some on horrors, some on the experiences and alienation of a new world. This book will have a a key role to play in schools across Australia. Eva Sallis's first novel Hiam won The Australian Vogel and the Dobbie Literary Awards. She is co-founder of Australians Against Racism and is a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide. 'Stories to melt the hardest heart.' - Helen Garner 'We have not been allowed to know the (recent) refugees as human beings ...These stories change all that and force a personal response from the reader.' - Phillip Adams' (Publication summary)