Little Paradise

Little Paradise by Gabrielle Wang 2010
Penguin Books Australia

Rating: 4/5

IQ "She noticed how a certain colour made one person's skin glow, and yet the same colour against another person's skin made it appear lifeless. She saw, too, how clothes reflected a personality-happy, sad, wild, shy, fun-all revealed in the way a person dressed. It was then she realised that clothes had the power to transform, to bring out the inner beauty of a soul. And from her own soul she drew her creations." Mirabel pg. 15

It's 1943 and Mirabel is seventeen. Melbourne, Australia is rather far off from the fighting of WWII but there are still some soldiers stationed there. Mostly American ones but there are some Chinese soldiers as well. Mirabel does not expect to ever work up the courage to talk to any soldier. She's shy and focused on designing dresses. Falling in love was not a part of her plan, but then she meets JJ. JJ is a Chinese soldier who helps to send messages from Australia to China to help coordinate with the war effort. Falling in love with a soldier is frowned upon by Mirabel's family, especially not a poor one. This combined with JJ returning to China, threaten their relationship.

The pacing is rather odd with this novel. It's sort of like a butterfly or a hummingbird. The story moves fast, floating from event to event, never stopping long enough to fully dive into the event or the characters involved. The romance seems to develop quickly, but too quickly. Neither Mirabel or JJ have any noticeable flaws, nor do we get a distinct grasp of their personality. I wanted to know more about what made JJ laugh, what did he and Mirabel talk about, etc. The books is a romance but oddly enough I felt that I learned more about the politics and events surrounding China during and after WWII. Furthermore, I wished we had learned more about mapmaking, it seemed rather vague.

This story is even easier to get emotionally involved in because it's based on a true story. Mirabel is astonishingly brave. She is in a seemingly dire predicament but she bravely packs up and heads to Shanghai to find JJ. Once in Shanghai she has some connections that make her search a little easier but she can't depend on the help of her friends forever. Watching her grow even more self assured and remaining positive about finding JJ is empowering. The whole of China is facing tumultuous times as the Kuomintang struggles to maintain its power and kills anyone who is even accused of being a Communist, no questions asked. Mirabel is remarkably quick-witted when it comes to dealing with both the Kuomintang and the Communists. I like that the author maintains a neutral tone throughout the novel concerning the Communists and the Kuomintang, she highlights the good and the bad of both parties. Even before Mirabel heads to Shanghai, she starts to gain confidence as a mapmaker.

Little Paradise is an accomplished novel that covers WWII in Australia, which is mostly a foreign place to Americans, we know nothing about what was going on there during WWII. What makes the story even more winsome is the romance. Granted the details can be vague at times and the characters are not as fleshed out as I would have liked. However, the story goes above and beyond in historical detail, covering not just Australia in the '40s but China as well. It's an informative read but the romance is at the forefront. The book also covers the alienation many Asian people felt in Australia, Mirabel even changes her name to fit in better (it used to be Lei An). While it's disappointing to learn that racism was so prevalent around the world, it's still interesting to see how racism reared its head in other countries. As a bonus the book is beautifully packaged. Not only is the cover sublime, but so are the inside and back covers feature the designs of Ms. Wang's mother. I would recommend this book to people who wish to learn more about Australia's history, Asian immigrants in Australia, the negative and positives of the Communists and the Kuomintangs (essentially: history lovers) and romantics.

Disclosure: Received from the author. Thank you so much Gabrielle!

PoC Down Under

I had a lot of fun researching PoC Across the Pond and many people seemed to like it so I decided to tackle Australian YA by/about PoC. This was a bit harder but just as fun =) I included one book by the author along with its summary and I linked to the author's websites. Many of these authors have written multiple books about PoC, so do check out their websites.

I am indebted to Adele of Persnickety Snark, Angela of Bookish Blather, Steph Bowe of Hey! Teenager of the Year and all those who answered my plea on Twitter (including @RipOffRed and Trisha). Without them I could not have made this post as thorough. Any mistakes with cover images, websites, etc. are my own


Enter the Parrot by Kiki Lon


Meet Jade, the White girl in the Wong family. On the surface, Jade fits in perfectly. But just below the surface lurks the fragrance of ginger, ginseng, and a secret kung fu society. When her crazy grandpa's deluded parrot goes missing, Jade must dive deep into the seedy underbelly of Chinatown to find him, keeping secrets from her best friends and her cute eco-mentor, Cedric: aka the hottest guy in school. She'll need her wits about her to solve the riddle, especially when more than one bird goes missing. Could TF, the hot Chinese guy with the washboard abs, hold the key to the mystery? One girl. One parrot. One ancient kung fu mystery. Got kung fu?

-She had me at 'hot Chinese guy'. I mean seriously, how many times are any guys of Asian descent described as hot? Even Brian from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is first described as geeky (although Leonardo Nam looked adorable in that movie. Fun fact: Leonardo Nam lived in Australia!). *Ahem*, moving on. A kung fu series could be very cool and I love strong female heroines which Jade seems to be. Plus you need to check out this author's upcoming projects (especially Totally Cooked which sounds awesome). From what I can gather from her website, these books all feature Asian main characters who don't play into the Asian stereotypes that Hollywood has created (hot Asian guys, Asian dancers, etc. When will Hollywood get a clue?)

Magic or Madness Trilogy by Justine Larbalestier

For fifteen years, Reason Cansino has lived on the run. Together with her mother, Sarafina, she has moved from one place to another in the Australian countryside, desperate not to be found by Reason’s grandmother Esmeralda, a dangerous woman who believes in magic. But the moment Reason walks through Esmeralda’s back door and finds herself on a New York City street, she’s confronted by an unavoidable truth— magic is real.

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Justine rocks. I've only read one book by her, Liar, which I loved. I love the active presence she has in the blogsphere and that she passionately speaks out on a wide variety of topics from sports, race, feminism, books, etc. I'm interested in reading more books about the almost old fashioned or traditional magic, less of the paranormal type. If that makes sense. Magic or Madness seems to fit that bill. I think we all must have a little madness in us to believe in magic ;)

Samurai Kids #1: White Crane by Sandy Fussell

Niya Moto is the only one-legged samurai kid in Japan, famous for falling flat on his face in the dirt. The one school that will accept him is the Cockroach Ryu, led by the legendary sensei Ki-Yaga. He may be an old man overly fond of naps, but Ki-Yaga is also known for taking in kids that the world has judged harshly: an albino girl with extra fingers and toes, a boy who is blind, a big kid whose past makes him loath to fight. A warrior in his time, Ki-Yaga demands excellence in everything from sword fighting to poetry. But can the ragtag Cockroaches make the treacherous journey to the Samurai Trainee Games, never mind take on the all-conquering Dragons? In a fast-moving, action-filled tale that draws on true details of feudal Japan, Niya finds there’s no fear they can’t face as long as they stick together — for their friendship is more powerful than a samurai sword.

-This story is a lot of fun and tells a wonderful story of friendship. Reading about the samurai trainees learning to embrace and work with their disabilities is heartwarming and will give you pause (in a good way). My review

Brown Skin Blue by Belinda Jeffrey (the author's current website isn't working)

Barry Mundy has brown skin and blue sin and, at seventeen, those two colours define his life. When he gets a job at the Croc-Jumping cruises on the Adelaide River in the Northern Territory, he carries a list of names of the men who could be his father. They’re all dark for different reasons and Barry hungers to know whose blood flows inside him. All he sees when he looks in the mirror is a brown mask that hides a blue secret.

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Summary from the author's website. The summary doesn't really say that much but it sounds interesting. I wonder if he will find his father and if so will his father claim him (they rarely seem to)? Also Barry would be indigenous right? I want to learn more about the cultures of the indigenous people of Australia.

Galax-Arena by Gillian Rubinstein

Peter, Joella, and Lianne are forced onto a spaceship and taken to the planet Vexa where they are made to perform death-defying stunts for their alien captors. Joella has never been a good gymnast and now she faces the unspeakable alternative--becoming a Vexan's pet. Then she discovers the hair-raising truth--they've never left Earth! Who's behind this elaborate hoax and why?

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I'm not exactly sure if this book is about PoC but I think it is due to the cover. Also Justine Larbalestier sent it to me along with other books written by Australian authors about Poc so I assume this one is too. Funny story. I've actually sort-of read this book before. I didn't recognize the Australian cover but when I saw the U.S. one, I realized that I started to read it in grade school. I didn't get very far because back then I couldn't read about slavery. Even if the story wasn't real, slavery would give me nightmares. I'm going to read this book. I'm just not sure how soon.

Little Paradise by Gabrielle Wang

As Mirabel watched him, she could not bear the thoughts creeping up on her. JJ was in the Chinese army and his mission in Australia would one day be over. Then she would be just like the others, a girl left behind in the wake of war. 'I'm afraid,' she whispered. 'When the war ends . . . what's going to happen to us?'

He put his arm around her and stroked her face. She knew he could not answer that question. But she wanted him to lie, to say that he would take her with him, that they would be together always.

Melbourne, 1943, and Mirabel is seventeen. She's leaving school, designing dresses, falling in love. Then fate intervenes, her forbidden affair is discovered, and JJ is posted back to China where a civil war is raging. Despite all warnings, Mirabel sets off for Shanghai to find him . . .

Little Paradise is inspired by a true story.

-This is probably the book I covet the most on this list. True I don't read much romance but it's set in Australia during WWII and it's a love story between two PoC which is incredibly rare in YA. Summary from Penguin Books Australia. Something else that I find appealing is that it's about immigrants living in Australia. I didn't want to just spotlight books about indigenous people, Australia has a thriving immigrant community that I would love to know more about. There's also a lovely cover story

Dougy (Gracey Trilogy) by James Moloney

Dougy is a young Aboriginal boy. "I'm nobody much," he thinks of himself. But when his little outback town erupts in violence and the brooding river breaks its banks, isolating the townsfolk, it is Dougy who must save his sister, Gracey.

-I can't find any summaries of this book apart from the one I got from the author's website. From what I've gathered based on reviews is that it deals with the Australian's government policies concerning its indigenous people. New covers were made for the trilogy but I don't want to show them because they are racially ambiguous, the faces are covered by a shadow.


Deadly Unna? by Phillip Gwynne

'Deadly, unna?' He was always saying that. All the Nungas did, but Dumby more than any of them. Dumby Red and Blacky don't have a lot in common. Dumby's the star of the footy team, he's got a killer smile and the knack with girls, and he's a Nunga. Blacky's a gutless wonder, needs braces, never knows what to say, and he's white. But they're friends... and it could be deadly, unna? This gutsy novel, set in a small coastal town in South Australia is a rites-of-passage story about two boys confronting the depth of racism that exists all around them.

-I struggled in reading this book because I didn't understand Australian slang, but I either figured it out or just moved on. This was the first book I ever read that described the discrimination Aboriginals face. It was quite a surprise. My review I own the sequel as well, Nukkin Ya. Summary from Puffin Books Australia

Tomorrow When the War Began (The Tomorrow Series #1) by John Marsden

When Ellie and her friends go camping, they have no idea they're leaving their old lives behind forever. Despite a less-than-tragic food shortage and a secret crush or two, everything goes as planned. But a week later, they return home to find their houses empty and their pets starving. Something has gone wrong--horribly wrong. Before long, they realize the country has been invaded, and the entire town has been captured--including their families and all their friends. Ellie and the other survivors face an impossible decision: They can flee for the mountains or surrender. Or they can fight.

-Set in Australia and the main character has a crush on an Asian guy, but he's more than just a crush. He's part of the group. I know it sounds like I'm stretching a bit, ah well. I like the fact that it's dystopia (sort of) and features a character of color. It's going to be a movie released in Australia

The Divine Wind by Garry Disher

On the eve of WWII, suspicion runs rampant in Hartley Penrose's small town. Even though they've done nothing wrong, the town is turning against its native Japanese residents - including Mitsy Sennosuke, the girl Hart loves despite himself. The result is a wrenching, unforgettable story of romance, betrayal, and the turmoils that rock both the world and the heart.

-This sounds predictable but if it executed right, I won't mind. I'm so ignorant, I really had no idea that Australia had a large population of Asians.

At least I'm educating myself now. We haven't studied anything about Australian history in school.

So what country should I tackle next? I'm thinking Canada. Leave any Aussie YA recommendations in the comments and/or what country I should research next.

PS I left out Eon for this reason so please don't recommend it.

PPSS ETA: People have been asking where they can find these books. Sadly I did not research this but I do know that you can order books from the Book Depository with free shipping worldwide. I would recommend people try that website. If anyone knows of any other websites/bookstores that sell these books with low shipping costs, let us know in the comments.

Male Monday: White Crane (Samurai Kids #1)

White Crane (Samurai Kids #1) by Sandy Fussell , illustrated by Rhian Nest James 2010
Candlewick Press

Rating: 3.5/5

IQ "Zen questions are easy for me because I know the secret. It's NOTHING. The answer to every question is some sort of NOTHING. If you say nothing, you are wise because you already know the answer and don't need to speak it. If you jump up and yell NOTHING, you are wise and generous with your knowledge." Niya pg. 29

Ki-Yaga teaches at the Cockroach Ryu, where he accepts many students that other schools might not. At the Cockroach Rye, he trains his students to be samurai. His students include Niya (our narrator) who has one leg, Kyoko (extra fingers and toes), Mikko (one arm), Yoshi (no fighting spirit, even though he is strong and tall) and Taji (blind). As Ki Yaga says "A cracked bowl can hold water. There is nothing wrong with the bowl. It just needs to be held properly." (pg.6-7). Ki Yaga teaches the students everything ranging from sword fighting to swimming to writing haikus. He does this while taking many naps. The Cockroaches are preparing for the Samurai Trainee Games, which they've never won, instead they usually face mocking from the other samurais-to-be. The Cockroaches don't have any hope of winning, they just don't want to be last anymore.

Niya is such an entertaining main character. I found some of the humor in this book to be a little juvenile, but it's perfect for kids in middle school and younger (4th or 5th grade). He is unafraid to poke fun at himself, however he also teases the kids at his Ryu and his teacher. I would have preferred less explanation of everything that the samurai did, I think readers can figure it out from the context, but I know there are readers who might be more impatient and don't want to have to look things up. I knew a little bit more about the samurai from my World Religions class and Samurai Shortstop, so that might also have contributed to my impatience at all the translations and explanations. One thing I didn't understand was the spirit animals (Niya's is the white crane). I couldn't figure out if the spirit animals were real or if the kids simply referred to their spirit animals to give them courage.

Just when you start to think the ending will be predictable, the author slices (with a samurai sword of course) your predictable thoughts and inserts a fun twist in the end. The artwork was very well done. Each chapter has a relatively simple illustration to start it off, along with one full picture in each chapter. What I found most interesting was how tasteful the drawings of the students were. There's no gore or anything, in some pictures you can see Niya's one leg or Mikko's one arm but for the most part the missing body part is artfully hidden. The pictures are in black and white which suits the book more and the illustrations added to the fun and vivid imagery of the story.

White Crane is an engaging story set in feudal Japan when the rules of the samurai are slowly changing to become more modern. There is a lot of struggle going on between teachers vs. students and students vs. students over what traditions should stay and what should go. I love that the author gave each of these students disabilities that were seemingly impossible to overcome. They have a long way to go, but they are slowly learning how to adapt to their missing limb/blindness/extra limbs. I loved reading about Niya and his friends, they were loyal to each other and true friends. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.

Disclosure: Received from April at Good Books & Good Wine Yay, thanks again April!

Male Monday: Deadly Unna?

Deadly Unna? by Philip Gwynne 1998
Penguin

Rating: 3/5

IQ "What had Dazza said? Play with fire and ya gunna get burnt. Maybe, Dazza, but not burnt to death." Blacky pg. 228

Dumby Red is a Nunga (Aboriginal), Blacky is white. Dumby is the star of the footy team, Blacky isn't the most aggressive player. Dumby is popular, Blacky is not. They don't seem to have much in common, but they're friends. In Australia, Aboriginals and white people are not friends, they stick to their 'sides' (Aboriginals at the Point, Blacky at the Port). The friendship between Blacky and Dumby is a problem, the question is: how big of a problem?

This book just moved too slowly for me. Also contrary to the description on the back of the book, this book did not talk much about the friendship between Dumby Red and Blacky. It talked more about the racial tensions between Aboriginals and white Australians, which is fine. I just had a hard time understanding the friendship between Blacky and Dumby Red, since it wasn't touched upon that much (they were odd friends). This is one of those books where it's hard for me to put a finger on why I didn't love this book exactly. I think it was a combination of the book moving too slowly and being annoyed with the main character. It was interesting because unlike books I've read set in the UK that are easy to understand based on context, this book was much more confusing. I had to look up what footy is because it sounded like soccer (or football) but they used their hands to tackle and grab the ball. However, I don't hold this against the book, but it did make it an even slower read because I wanted to be sure I understood what was going on.

Blacky has a humorous voice and that is the only thing that kept me reading. Not much seems to happen in the book, it's mostly about day to day life in Australia with some random racial issues and footy competitions. I wasn't as much of a fan at some of the crass humor in the book (a lot more than I'm used, mostly dealing with male body parts) but I just moved past it. Blacky is torn between following the crowd and doing what he thinks is right by not discriminating against Nungas. Blacky makes many sharp observations about the world around him and the hypocritical nature of the adults and white people in his life. I was quite surprised by how terribly the Aboriginals were treated since the book is set in the late 20st century. I knew they must have been treated badly early on, but they were still mostly ignored and racial slurs were made openly. It was an eye opening read to a part of the world that we learn absolutely nothing about.

Deadly Unna? isn't laugh out loud funny but there are many scenes that will leave you with an amused smile on your face. I would recommend it but especially to American readers, who may not have known about how Aboriginals are discriminated against (I certainly didn't know about it, some incidents are almost worse than things that occur in America!). I would also say it's a great book to introduce Americans to parts of Australian culture. I loved learning about footy and learning about Australian culture. Blacky's family is a riot (except for his father, grrr) while his friends are kind of annoying. I do intend on reading the sequel (Nukkin Ya) because I think it will touch even more upon racial issues in Australia. By the way, this book was made into a movie called Australian Rules.

Disclosure: Received from Justine Larbalestier. Thank you so much Justine!

PS Next month I will do a feature about POC books published in Australia, please email me with suggestions because I don't even know where to start!

Throwback Thursday: Ten Things I Hate About Me

Ten Things I Hate About Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah (UK version) 2007

Rating: 4.5/5

IQ "I wish I could talk in capital letters at school. Use exclamation marks and highlighter pens on all my sentences. Stand out bold, italicized, and underlined. At the moment I'm a rarely used font in a microscopic size with no shading of emphasis." Jamilah pg. 92

Jamilah (I will be referring to Jamie/Jamilah as Jamilah throughout the rest of the review) hates ten things about herself, they include her attraction to a guy who is a popular jerk, her "boring looks" and the fact that she hypothetically can't get a pilot's license or own a fertilizer without being blacklisted due to her Muslim Lebanese background. Not to mention she hates all the other stereotypes people have about Lebanese Muslims (to be perfectly honest I don't think many people know the difference between a Lebanese Muslim and an Iraqi Muslim so she should just say Muslims in general or Middle Eastern people), including that they all work for Osama Bin Laden and ride camels in the desert, etc. To avoid these stereotypes, Jamilah gives herself a makeover. She becomes Jamie, by dying her hair blonde and wearing blue contact lens. No one at her school knows she's a Lebanese Muslim and she intends to keep it that way. She can't handle the jokes and assumptions people make and she doesn't want sympathy for her strict father who insists she is home by sunset. But sooner or later her two worlds are going to collide.

With this second novel Randa Abdel-Fattah has become one of my favorite authors (thus the long review). I adored Does My Head Look Big in This? and her second novel did not disappoint. I do have one compliant though: the main character's romance interests. The situation is basically the exact same thing for both books and that annoyed me. *SPOILER Discussion (highlight to read) The author should just remove romantic obstacles since she clearly does not want her main characters to end up with nice guys. I understand that this happens in real life, but I think that the author should have switched it up from her first book instead of having similar reasons as to why her main character could not go out with the cute and sweet guy. I loved Timothy! So I was really disappointed with that ending. I can also understand people's complaints that these books are too preachy, the author throws a lot of facts about Muslim and Middle Eastern culture into the story and while it doesn't always flow, I like it. I think that these books are crucial in helping teenagers understand a culture that is so foreign to them and viewed so negatively, they highlight the positive of Middle Eastern/Muslim culture and hopefully will help stereotypes deteriorate. I do think some of the sub plots are predictable (you've been warned).

All that being said, the most endearing quality of the books is the humor. Jamilah's voice is fresh and quite dramatic, she does not hesitate to poke fun at herself (though only in private) and she is wonderfully sarcastic. Her family is eccentric as well and at times the reader will pity Jamilah due to how strict her single parent father is (her mother died of a heart attack when Jamilah was nine) but you will snap out of it because Jamilah does not want pity and the author prevents Jamilah or the reader from throwing a pity party by keeping you in stiches. Jamilah's family is unique to say the least. To quote Jamilah's father (talking about his children) "One thinks she's going to save the world by protesting about anything and everything and the other has the intelligence of a squashed falafel. And my Jamilah? All she does is watch this OP or OC rubbish programme, or whatever it is called, and dye her hair yellow." (pg. 24, I have no idea what a falafel is). Her older sister Shereen is twenty two and an activist. She wears the hijab (Jamilah does not) but she sews very interesting patterns on them, ranging from peace slogans to things like a ying and yang symbol or expressions such as "Don't go Burning Your Retina On My Account". She is quite a character, I loved her spirit and how she so fiercely believed in all her causes and she is the peacemaker of the family. Jamilah's brother Bilal is a high school drop out, an excellent mechanic and quite popular with the ladies. He goes to clubs, drinks and is always on the verge of giving his father a heart attack. He is the sweetest and most entertaining of older brothers. I don't want to talk about all the other characters but this book also has a Muslim Lebanese rap group and witty dialogue (or "burns". I'm not sure if they say that in Australia) between Peter and Timothy that is hilarious. Well it's witty on Timothy's part, Peter is an idiot.

Ten Things I Hate About Me will keep you laughing at the antics of Jamilah's family, friends and acquaintances. Her struggle to fit in at school and her decision to assimilate by completely ignoring her Muslim Lebanese culture is heartbreaking and a redeeming quality of the book is watching her grow up and become more comfortable with herself. The oddball characters keep this story from being weighed down with facts about Muslim Lebanese culture, but even these facts add value to the story and will be welcomed by many. Just ignore the romance aspect of it because it's upsetting ;) To top it all off, it's a lot of fun learning about Australian culture indirectly and reading the slang. The story has some fairly predictable moments so keep that in mind and read it for the humor, Australian and Lebanese Muslim content!

Disclosure: Received from Book Fairy #3 (my only UK Book Fairy) aka Kaz Mahoney. Thank you so much!

PS I have the UK version which was published in 2007 but the book was first published in Australia (where the author is from) in 2006, and it was published in the U.S. in 2010. The two covers are different, and the UK one has "Australian Jamie" on the front and "Muslim Lebanese Jamilah" on the back (which you can't see in this post).

PPSS (or whatever it is) Two more humorous tidbits that I must share;
Peter (talking to Timothy about who he can take to the school dance) "I don't think even a fat chick would lower her standards for you."
Timothy: "Really? Then why did your mum say yes?"
Peter: "You piece of s**t. Don't even go there."
Timothy: "I don't like going to a lot of places, Peter, but you're the one handing out the invitations." (pg. 279) BURN!

Bilal (talking about nightclubs) "'It's funk night too.' He starts singing one of his favorite songs.
'Bilal! Do not swear in this house!' my dad yells. [...]
'F-U-N-K,' Bilal says slowly and clearly."

Throwback Thursday is a meme I originally credited to Tashi at Taste Life Twice. But I have learned that an earlier version is hosted by Take Me Away. Since Tashi is no longer blogging :( I will begin crediting this meme to Take Me Away only. Same purpose though :)

Throwback Thursday: Unpolished Gem

Unpolished Gem by Alice Pung 2006

Black Inc. Books (Australia!)

IQ "Old people, I thought, grew younger the older they became. They would see things differently, making a difference in whatever way they could, without being afraid of looking foolish." Alice, pg. 171

Unpolished Gem is a memoir of the first eighteen years of Alice Pung. Alice's Chinese-Cambodian family immigrated to Australia for the opportunities (it was that or Canada, too cold!) and life in Australia is full of difficulties and hardships. "Armed with an ocker accent, Alice dives headfirst into schooling, romance and the getting of wisdom. [...] And every day her grandmother blesses Father Government for giving old people money." (back cover) Alice's mother makes jewelry and her father joins a franchise by opening an electrical-appliance store.

You may have just read that summary and wondered who is Alice Pung? I have no idea. Even after finishing this book, I don't really know what she does. The book ends with her wanting to be a lawyer and her biography says she is a writer and lawyer, but her memoir only briefly hints at this. The thing that irked me the most about this book was I felt that Ms. Pung had not done anything that justified her writing a memoir. In my opinion, you should write a memoir if you've achieved something (preferably achieved many different things and then you write a memoir when you are older), like Barack Obama wrote his after becoming the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review. He did something. I don't mean to insult Ms. Pung, it seems that she has had a successful writing career (I do own both books) but she wrote a memoir before all that and I didn't really understand why she chose to write a memoir. Was it simply because she's Asian and lives in Australia? I think the immigration experience is important but I think she should have either written a novel previously to this book or published an anthology (which is what her second book is, Growing Up Asian in Australia). Honestly, I was bored at times. The ending was jarring too, because it was so random and sudden. I could sort-of understand why Alice did what she did and I'm glad that she was able to honestly evaluate her relationships, but I think the story should have continued a little after that (the scene should not be cut out because it's a very key scene, but it needed a follow-up).

You may think I despised this book but I didn't. The author has a great sense of humor and she's able to poke fun at the strictness of her parents while still remaining the ideal obedient daughter. Although I am confused by her family's background. Alice's father's mother was definitely Chinese, she immigrated to Cambodia because she was a revolutionary and the government was after her. There she met Alice's father's father and I'm not sure if he's Cambodian or Chinese. She met him at a Chinese school, so I do think he's Chinese but he was way older and a teacher so maybe he was Cambodian and just taught at a Chinese school. I'm pretty sure Alice's mother is Cambodian though, Alice doesn't reveal much about the beginning of her life, her story starts when her mom is thirteen. Alice's mother was fortunate, when Pol Pot came to power, she was able to escape with her family to Vietnam. Alice's father and his family were not so fortunate, they were sent to the Killing Fields, but they miraculously survived and met up in Vietnam (the families knew each other from their days in Cambodia, but Alice's future parents did not know each other, Alice's father was many years older than her).

Nevertheless, I loved reading about the Chinese-Cambodian culture and Alice's interesting family. There are two things that really stuck me in reading this novel, how Alice and her family call white people "ghosts". I found this quite amusing and smiled to myself every time I read it. I also thought that their definition of gossip/insults was brilliant, "Words with bones in them, my grandmother calls them. Words to make the other person fall flat on their back and die a curly death, my mother says. The sharp ones, the ones you can use if ever you need a weapon to protect yourself." (pg. 36). I also loved the glimpse into Australian culture in general, mainly though vocabulary. For example, an ocker (see summary of the book above) is someone with an Australian accent who speaks and acts in an "uncultured manner" (thanks Wikipedia!). I had no clue what an ocker was but I had fun reading the bits of slang (bugger!) scattered throughout the novel and I was pleased that there was no translation (I'm not even sure if this book was published in the U.S., I don't think it was) you had to use context clues or just go look it up.

Alice and her grandmother have a special relationship that was really heart-warming to read about. Alice respects most of her elders because of her grandmother's example and attitude (see the Incredible Quote above), Her grandmother made me laugh (well, the way Alice described her grandmother made me laugh. "If anyone dared to feed her, she would yell 'Stop it! Stop it or else when I finally go, I'm going to drag you with me!' When her threats did not work, she would pick up her porcelain bowl and attempt to do grievous bodily harm to the poor soul who had dared to offer help" pg. 173) and she is a great role model for Alice. I also liked how the book started off with Alice on the appearing to be super obedient and not wanting anything for herself and being OK with it. But there is a negative effect of her always being pushed in academics and in all the hard work she has to do and this is portrayed so authentically, it's one of the biggest strengths of the book.

Unpolished Gem was a humorous look into the life of an average Chinese-Cambodian family living in Australia. I learned a lot about Chinese-Cambodian and Australian culture. The strong characters, rich history and culture are never sugar-coated which keeps the book interesting and original. I do think the ending could have been way better and the story becomes tedious at times, but the author's light hearted look at things and her way with words, helped me finish the book. I cheered when she said "I wanted to know whether it was only because I was 'exotic' and if so, what that word meant to him. If he told me he liked my almond eyes and caramel skin, I would tell him to buy a bag of confectionery instead, because i was sick of it all-how we always had to have hair like a black waterfall, alabaster or porcelain skin, and some body part or other resembling a peach." (pg. 230)I LOVE this line! I have mixed feelings on this memoir, but I would say if you want to learn about being Asian in Australia then this book is a must-read for you.

Disclosure: Received from Justine. Justine is one of the most amazing people I know and last summer (don't really click the link, it's so awful, I didn't even include pictures and summaries do to laziness! I'm going to have to a re-do post) she sent me several Australian books by/about POC that she thought I would be interested in. This is my first review of one (I'm wincing as I type this). I'm mortified at how long it's taken me to read one and I'm so sorry Justine! My goal is to review them all before this upcoming summer is over. Anyway, thank you so much Justine!