Naveed by John Heffernan
Through My Eyes series. Allen & Unwin, 2014. ISBN:
9781743312483.
I would highly recommend this title and the whole series thus far!
Following the death of his much loved father, Naveed, a young
Afghani boy, shoulders the responsibility of caring for his mother
and younger sister, Anoosheh. His young sister had lost her legs as
the result of an exploding landmine. Despite their lowly income and
existence, the family members display strong ethics and positive
natures with honesty, hard work, generosity of spirit, loyalty and
resilience being traits they have in abundance. In order to provide
the family with food and pay the rent for their meagre
accommodation, Naveed willingly works for a variety of employers,
even continuing despite them taking advantage of him and underpaying
him for his impeccable work. He maintains a positive attitude and
work ethic, often reflecting on the sayings and teachings of his
father. Thankfully, not everyone with whom he interacts is as
predatory as the gang that accosts him in the street and he manages
to find some allies. Amongst his allies is a dog that he names
Nasera, and the pair becomes inseparable. When he develops a
friendship with Jake, an Australian soldier, Naveed and his
extraordinary dog are offered a job which seems almost too good to
be true. There is the possibility they could become a valuable team,
assisting in making Afghanistan a safer place. Will they succeed?
Whose plans could be foiled through their actions if they take on
their proposed role?
Through My Eyes is one series on which I expect to continue
to heap praise! With these titles, younger students can be
introduced to the realities and atrocities of war. Amongst these
realities are weapons, suicide bombers, IEDs, warlords, gangs of
thieves and the unfair treatment of both the poor and females,
particularly widows, by the male Afghani. Although containing plenty
of aspects which could be considered confronting, these titles are
more accessible to upper primary and secondary students as the
protagonists are of a similar age to the readers.
Lyn White has used her experience working as a teacher librarian to
create detailed and eminently useable teacher notes for each of the
books in this series. Having heard her speak at the ASLA conference
last year, I agree with her sentiment that both the books and
teacher notes are truly a gift to all teachers. Teacher notes for
Naveed can be found here.
I have previously taught various units on war and conflict and
believe these titles support any such unit brilliantly. Each of the
Through My Eyes titles would be well received by older
students in literature circles. Personally, in the primary school
setting, I would prefer to be able to use them as the basis of a
whole class unit, reading aloud and discussing various elements of
the text and the information brought out in each. I believe this
title could work well with any students from Year 5 and above but
believe that perhaps the previous titles may be better suited to the
slightly older classes.
Jo Schenkel