Growing up in Australia

This wonderful collection of short stories brings together a few pieces from previous volumes such as Growing up disabled in Australia, Growing up Aboriginal in Australia, and other 'Growing up' books, but also includes others not encountered before, by much cherished Australian authors. As Alice Pung points out in her introduction, each of the stories shines a light on the infinite variety of childhood experiences so different from the sort of world depicted in Vegemite and Weet-Bix commercials. These authors tell us about their experiences, at times brutal, heartrending, lonely, beautiful, or funny, but always authentic.

The opening story, appropriately, is Stan Grant’s ‘Talking to my country’ which highlights the exclusion of Aboriginal people, the missing history, and the low expectations which impacted so many. And while there are happy memories of family love and the camaraderie of friends, it’s important that any picture of Australia should include this perspective.

Also included is an excerpt from Tim Winton’s coastal memoir Land’s Edge with his descriptions of wild rambling summer explorations along the seashore, and his life-changing discovery of a library.

But for me, the story I absolutely enjoyed, and made me laugh, was the account from Sara El Sayed’s Muddy people. 'Don’t touch alcohol' highlights inter-cultural misunderstandings, the funny stories that were probably embarrassing at the time, but which later have become a mine of humour.

There are other well-known names, including Magda Szubanski, Tara June Winch, Benjamin Law, and many others; I’m sure that any reader will find something to enjoy in this book.

Themes: Childhood, Identity, Cultural diversity.

Helen Eddy