Growing Up Asian In Australia

Asian-Australians are known to each other and the outside world by many labels: Quiet Achiever. FOB. Gangster Chigger. Mainlander. Banana. But are these labels based on some degree of truth, or only fiction? What is it like to grow up Asian in Australia?

Unpredictable, honest, reflective and irreverent, this collection throws out the clichés and takes us behind the stereotypes. A young man tentatively steps toward manhood with Mariah Carey blasting in his ears, while two primary-school misfits stage a playground revolt. A white Australian woman describes mothering her adopted Asian son, and a teenage boy learns all about philandering from his visiting uncles. Here are respected public figures as well as exciting new voices, drawn from all walks of life and spanning several generations. With insight, courage and a large dose of humour, they shed new light on what it is like to grow up Asian, and Australian.