AUTHOR: Jane Harrison GENRE: YA Contemporary PAGES: 240 PUBLISHER: Magabala Books RELEASED: 1 June 2015 SYNOPSIS: For Kirrali, life in 1985 was pretty chill. Sure, she was an Aboriginal girl adopted into a white family, but she was cool with that. She knew where she was headed - to a law degree - even if she didn't know 'who she was'. But when Kirrali moves to the city to start university, a whole lot of life-changing events spark an awakening that no one sees coming, least of all herself. Story flashbacks to the 1960s, where her birth mother is desperately trying to escape conservative parents, give meaning to Kirrali's own search for identity nearly twenty years later. And then she meets her father... A look at what it's like growing up Aboriginal in the 1980s, and how a girl brought up in a white family finds a connection to her Aboriginal roots.
Kirrali Lewis grew up in a white family, having been adopted at birth. Being Aboriginal in a white family has never bothered her, and growing up in her small town, she was fortunate not to have been treated too differently because of her skin colour, apart from a few racist comments here and there. But when she arrives in the city for university, she's suddenly thrown into a whole new world. For the first time she's surrounded by Aboriginal culture and experiences first-hand the struggles that come with being Aboriginal, from racism to poor police treatment. It's an eye-opening experience, and as she starts to discover who she really is, she takes the plunge to look for her birth parents, surprised by who she finds and the cultural connections she forms. This is such a beautiful book with the representation we desperately need to see more of in Aussie books. Kirrali's path of self-discovery is an interesting one as she openly recognises her own racism due to the disconnect from her cultural roots. The story also serves as a reminder and eye-opener to the struggles that Indigenous Australians have faced in the past (in the book's case, the 1960s, 70s and 80s), but also the struggles that still persist today. And while the book may be one of fiction, it's based in very real experiences, which is hard to forget. I really enjoyed Kirrali's narration, as well as the inclusion of her birth mother's narration later in the book. Both women offered a really great voice of their experiences, making it so easy to connect with them. Kirrali's story is not only a coming of age story, but a story of cultural connection and finding your place in a world where not everyone is accepting of you. This book is a MUST read for all Australians, and is a great place to start if you are looking to read more diverse Australian stories. |
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