The Bone Sparrow Study Guide

Fraillon was born in Melbourne, Australia, though she spent a lot of her early childhood in San Francisco, California. She’s said that she’s always been an avid reader, and she believes this is because her extreme nearsightedness wasn’t diagnosed until she was seven years old. She studied history and ultimately became a teacher, and though she wrote for fun throughout her life, it wasn’t until she began writing picture books for and with her young son that a friend suggested she should try getting one published. Though she published several picture books, most of her books are for middle grade readers. Many deal with various human rights abuses. The Bone Sparrow is her best-known work, and it won an Amnesty CILIP Honor for portraying the issues facing the Rohingya people. Fraillon lives in Melbourne.  

While Fraillon emphasizes in her author’s note that The Bone Sparrow is a work of fiction, it is based on the real-world Rohingya refugee crisis. The Rohingya people are, by some accounts, some of the most heavily persecuted people in the world. The ethnic group is native to Myanmar (though it’s referred to by its former name, Burma, in the book), and is a Muslim minority in a predominately Buddhist country. The government, however, doesn’t acknowledge the group’s existence. This has resulted in violence in Myanmar that has been deemed genocide and ensuing waves of refugees to neighboring countries in Asia and elsewhere around the world. Fraillon specifically notes that she was inspired to write and draw attention to their plight after a boat carrying Rohingya refugees was stranded at sea—and after days of international news coverage, private fisherman rescued the refugees when no country would send help. Much of her research focused on Australian detention centers on Manus Island and Nauru, including the particulars of the riot and of Eli’s death. Eli’s death was inspired by that of Reza Barati, who was murdered inside the compound by a warden during a riot, though it was initially reported that he died outside the compound. Though Fraillon focuses specifically on portraying conditions in a fictional Australian refugee camp, in her author’s note, she describes how refugees worldwide face horrific conditions when they try to seek asylum in other countries, mentioning that the United States practices mandatory detention like Australia does. This means that asylum seekers are detained while officials review their refugee status, a process that can take months or years (and which was slowed even more due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Many of Zana Fraillon’s young adult novels, like The Bone Sparrow, tackle human rights issues. The Ones that Disappeared focuses on child slavery, for instance, while No Stars to Wish On is about Australia’s Forgotten Generation. Other novels for young readers that tackle similar issues include Boy Overboard by Morris Gleitzman, which focuses on Afghan refugees to Australia; American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, which portrays anti-Asian racism; and Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes, which deals with police violence against Black boys in the United States. Within the novel itself, the rubber duck Subhi steals from Harvey is designed to look like William Shakespeare—though Subhi has no idea who Shakespeare is or what a play is. William Shakespeare (1564–1619) is perhaps the most famous English-language playwright and is known for classics like Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Much Ado About Nothing. Additionally, Harvey also gives Subhi a copy of A Thousand and One Nights, a collection of Middle Eastern folktales from the Middle Ages. Fraillon has said that her use of magical realism was inspired by Isabelle Allende (The House of the Spirits, City of the Beasts), while Louis Sachar (Holes, Sideways Stories from Wayside School) and Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes) have also had an impact on her writing.