sonianair 's review for:

Growing Up Asian in Australia by Alice Pung

4.0

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I started reading this book in the midst of the 18C debate, which only served to underline how harmful the proposed 18C changes are. Story after story in Growing Up Asian in Australia recalls the microaggressions Asian Australians endure in the schoolyard, the workplace, the public sphere; the chasm that opens up between immigrant parents and first-generation Australian children; the discombobulation that ensues from never feeling like you belong no matter where you are. Many times, I tethered on the brink of tears as I read about the callous ways immigrant parents have been treated both by society and their own children, recalling my own parents' experience. This book is so important and I'm glad it exists.