Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Sydney, NSW : Hachette Australia, 2016.
Description
'Against anything I had ever been told was possible, I was turning white. On the surface of my skin, a miracle was quietly brewing ...' Suburban Australia. Sweltering heat. Three bedroom blonde-brick. Family of five. Beat-up Ford Falcon. Vegemite on toast. Maxine Beneba Clarke's life is just like all the other Aussie kids on her street. Except for this one, glaring, inescapably obvious thing... This is a powerful, funny, and at times devastating memoir about growing up black in white middle-class Australia.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Mercef
A memoir about growing up black in white Australia. Maxine grew up in Kellyville, not far from my own childhood home, so I was interested to read about her childhood memories. As an educator, it was disturbing to read about the overt racism she experienced at school - from both students AND staff.
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This book challenges you to also think about ‘hidden’ racism - the seemingly harmless comments or reactions we may have towards people who don’t look the same as ourselves. Show Less
LibraryThing member PhilipJHunt
What a thoroughly satisfying read. So well structured and accessible. Clarke reveals the systemic racism in Australia in ways that generate empathy and understanding. And thereby, change and growth. Highly recommended.
Awards
Nita B Kibble Literary Award for Women Writers (Shortlist — 2018)
Australian Book Industry Awards (Shortlist — Biography — 2017)
The Indie Book Award (Longlist — Non-fiction — 2017)
Victorian Premier's Literary Award (Nominee — Nettie Palmer Prize for Australian Nonfiction — 2017)
Stella Prize (Shortlist — 2017)
Language
Physical description
x, 259 p.; 24 cm
ISBN
9780733632280
Local notes
A chronicle of the everyday injustices of racism that are always present in Australia, no matter how hard we try to deny that they exist, and the way they accrue, and slowly wear away at the people against whom they are directed.
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