1. Aboriginal Australians
2. Child welfare
3. Childhood and youth
4. Cities and towns
5. Country
6. Cultural diversity
7. Education
8. Families
9. Human rights
10. Race awareness
11. Sport

Thirty-two different Australians have written about growing up in Australia. Some of the stories have been published in other books including the ‘Growing Up’ series. Along with an introduction by Alice Pung these stories show Australia with all its diversity—the funny, the sad, the ugly and the beautiful. Several of the contributors are Indigenous, most are not. The sameness as well as the differences are shown by all these writers who call Australia home. Stan Grant writes about the bigger picture of racist Australia over the past 200 plus years, Miranda Tapsell writes of her Top End childhood and Kerry Reed-Gilbert writes of racism in small country towns. Together all these stories give an insight into what growing up in Australia could be, might be or should be. At the end of the book there is a brief biography of each of the contributors. Those identifying as Aboriginal people in the Contributors section in the book or where this information could be found, include Stan Grant, Gayle Kennedy, Miranda Tapsell, Kerry Reed-Gilbert and Tara June Winch.

Reading all these stories about childhood gives readers an insight into other people’s lives and could be a good launching pad into writing one’s own story. This book, as well as others in the set of ‘Growing Up’ books, would make a welcome addition to all school libraries for readers to explore the diversity of all who live in Australia.

Series: Growing Up

1. Black Inc Books Teaching Notes, ‘Growing up in Australia’ https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/sites/default/files/Growing%20Up%20in%20Australia%20teaching%20notes.pdf
2. Literacy Ideas for Teachers and Students, ‘How to write a biography’ https://literacyideas.com/how-to-write-a-biography/
3. Literacy Ideas for Teachers and Students, ‘How to write an autobiography’ https://literacyideas.com/how-to-write-an-autobiography/
4. INDAILY, In Review, review by Jo Case of ‘Growing up in Australia’ https://indaily.com.au/inreview/books-and-poetry/2021/12/15/book-review-growing-up-in-australia/