The Bone Sparrow

“[W]hen I was only nineteen fence diamonds high.”

Measuring a child’s growth each year is a tradition for many families. Subhi reveals the direness of his family’s situation when he explains that his mother must measure his growth by the fence that encloses them in the displacement camp. The camp, lacking real walls to note growth marks, is the only home he has ever known.

“It’s only breakfast time, but already the sun looks angry.”

The author personifies the sun through Subhi’s observations about the weather and uses sensory imagery to convey the situation. The quote establishes a sense of place in describing the oppressive sun and the exposure of the camp located in the Australian outback. Lack of water, heat exhaustion, and dust sickness are ever-present problems for the camp’s inhabitants.

“I can feel that zipping in my legs that I get every time I’m about to run a package. That kind of excited, scared zip that makes everything feel a little bit sharper and more real.”

There is little positive stimulation for the children in the camp as they have no organized activities or educational opportunities. Though Eli and Subhi’s delivery system is illegal within the structure of the camp, it gives them a sense of purpose and agency and Subhi relishes the thrill of the adventure. He doesn’t realize that the sensation he feels is the exhilaration of helping others in need.