Running on the Roof of the World

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This thrilling adventure story is about kindness, hope, friendship and the power of one person to make a difference. All of which seem to me to be pretty good messages to send to the many young people who will undoubtedly be reading this book. The prose is short, sharp and choppy - but beautiful and evocative at the same time. Jess gives a real sense of the setting, and particularly of the animals, with the two yaks being a real highlight.

EVEEEEEEEEEEEE. My heart. Oh Eve, Eve, Eve. What a gentle soul. What a wonderful companion. A savior and an angel in the body of a large yak. A blessing. (Appa vibes?) Other fabulous middle-grade books that deal with serious issues affecting children in other countries include Oranges in No Man's Land by Elizabeth Laird, about Lebanon, and The Bone Sparrow by Zana Fraillon, about Rohinga refugees in Australia. You might also like to look at When the Mountains Roared by Jess Butterworth. Tash has to follow many rules to survive in Tibet, a country occupied by Chinese soldiers. But when a man sets himself on fire in protest and soldiers seize Tash's parents, she and her best friend Sam must break the rules. They are determined to escape Tibet - and seek the help of the Dalai Lama himself in India.

PDF / EPUB File Name: Running_on_the_Roof_of_the_World_-_Jess_Butterworth.pdf, Running_on_the_Roof_of_the_World_-_Jess_Butterworth.epub Sir Thomas Edward Gordon, The Roof of the World: being a narrative of a journey over the high plateau of Tibet to the Russian frontier and the Oxus sources on Pamir, Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1876 A lively tale of courage, persistence, and growth . . . Butterworth engenders warm appreciation not only for what the scrappy Tash and Sam endure but also the culture and its traditions they wish to protect, without denying that the conflict is still ongoing.” A trek can be interesting and fun; for Tash and Sam it’s a matter of life and death. They’re on the run from soldiers, but can they make the right decisions on the way?

Oh, and what is environmentally key about Tibet right now? It is the source of fresh water for much of Asia, so expect continued and increased oppression there: We were now about to cross the famous 'Bam-i-Dunya', 'The Roof of the World' under which name the elevated region of the hitherto comparatively unknown Pamir tracts had long appeared in our maps.[...] Wood, in 1838, was the first European traveler of modern times to visit the Great Pamir,". [3] one of those stories that gives its young readers an honest understanding of some of the awful things that go on in the world, but balances that understanding with a narrative of survival and hope... (Jill Murphy The Book Bag)

Not just the motivational speech that teachers give to themselves in front of the mirror during the final week of the summer term, but also the words of the Dalai Lama in Jess Butterworth’s uplifting debut novel. the folk song and cultural pride. I will always love when families share folk songs and talk about what their heritage means to them. It’s so wholesome. This book is good, though I though it dragged in some sections and I got bored easily. I think there should have been more action and I thought I was gliding through it, not being surprised enough. It was very predictable. Apart from that it is very very good. I like the part when Tash was running out of her house and being chased by soldiers, I thought it was very dramatic. Set in the swamps of Louisiana this exciting adventure story combines with a hopeful message about fighting climate change and caring for the earth and its animals. With the awakening of public interest in Tibet, the Pamirs, "since 1875 ... probably the best explored region in High Asia", [4] went out of the limelight and the description "Roof of the World" has been increasingly applied to Tibet [9] [10] and the Tibetan plateau, and occasionally, especially in French ( "Toit du monde"), even to Mt. Everest, [11] but the traditional use is still alive. [12] Where the world's tallest mountain ranges meet Panorama of the Pamirs, the Original Roof of the World

Events that initially seemed to stretch believability in Running on the Roof of the World suddenly, upon reflection, seem frighteningly realistic. This is a daily terror that people continue to live with, and it shouldn’t get swept under the carpet. The British explorer John Wood, writing in 1838, described Bam-i-Duniah (Roof of the World) as a "native expression" (presumably Wakhi), [1] and it was generally used for the Pamirs in Victorian times: In 1876, another British traveler, Sir Thomas Edward Gordon, employed it as the title of a book [2] and wrote in Chapter IX: This is a fictional story based on a very real issue – that of the ongoing situation for all inhabitants of Tibet. In this story, we see the imagined impact that it has on children. A big part of Tash realising that there's far more going on in the world than she knows is because a man in her village sets himself on fire in protest. And it's brought up several times in the course of the story. But an explanation as to WHY someone might do something like that and an emphasis that it's not something that should be encouraged as a form of protest doesn't come until right at the end of the book. And given that it's a middle grade book, I wanted that stuff to come a liiiiiittle bit sooner.The perfect combination of adventure, friendship, cultural appreciation, and real-worldliness that make it a five-star read for kids and adults alike.” One thing I noticed Jess does really well is sets a clear scene of what it is like to trek across the Himalayas; the deep snow, the freezing winds, even the soldiers hidden away to try and catch out those that are trying to escape. The power and importance of friendship is also show really effectively through Tash's relationship with Sam, complete with both ups and downs. This beautifully designed book is a richly atmospheric story of friendship, courage and survival. It provides a rare insight into Tibetan culture and raises timely questions about the nature of freedom, without being overtly political. Although there are some distressing moments, these are sensitively handled and the overriding message is one of hope and compassion. With her parents taken away by the soldiers, Tash and her friend Sam must try to make the dangerous journey over the Himalayas and escape to India, where they can ask the Dalai Lama for help...

I loved the adventure the characters went on, their strength, their courage. They set their minds on a goal and did everything in their power to achieve it. As much as I love China and continue to travel there for both business and pleasure, it’s not a utopia. Far from it.Survival stories are some of my all-time favorite middle grade books. This is a great addition to my survivor collection that contains other titles like Snow Dogs by Terry Lynn Johnson and Hatchet by Greg Paulsen. The attitude and outlook of the Tibetan people is reflected in many of the characters in the book and it’s refreshing to read. Even though these characters endure hardship and persecution, there is always hope and a lot of love. Despite there being a clear “villain” in the shape of Chinese soldiers, there is rarely if ever a feeling of ill-will towards them from Tash or her neighbours. Buy from our bookstore and 25% of the cover price will be given to a school of your choice to buy more books. *15% of eBooks. Home > Tash and her best friend Sam live in rural Tibet (about 12 hours by road to Lhasa), sometime around now (about 50 years after the Dalai Lama fled to India). We’re not given much more information than that. And perhaps that was the seed of my unease with the book. So much of a modern Tibetan’s perspective is shaped by exactly where and when they live.