English: Laurinda

Funny, feisty and moving, Laurinda explores Lucy’s struggle to stay true to herself as she finds her way in a new world of privilege and opportunity.
Available as both a physical book and an eBook.

“The stories in this anthology are special because they capture the school experience with rare authenticity. These are not adults writing about teenagers, but real young adult writers.” - Alice Pung
Award-winning author Alice Pung has selected 25 diverse stories written by high school students inspired by her bestselling YA novel, Laurinda. The collection features an impressive range of genres by exciting new voices, exploring themes as varied as intergenerational friendship, cultural identity, bullying and heartbreak. From epiphanies on an African safari to trying to cope with the death of a parent, from a prank gone wrong to finding love in unexpected places, the stories in My First Lesson are vivid and imaginative, funny and surprising, poetic and moving.

After Alice Pung's family fled to Australia from the killing fields of Cambodia, her father chose Alice as her name because he thought their new country was a Wonderland. In this lyrical, bittersweet debut memoir - already an award-winning bestseller when it was published in Australia - Alice grows up straddling two worlds, East and West, her insular family and the Australia outside. With wisdom beyond her years and a keen eye for comedy in everyday life, she writes of the trials of assimilation and cultural misunderstanding, and of the tender but fraught relationships between three generations of women trying to live the Australian dream without losing themselves.

This is an anthology of writing about what it is really like to grow up Asian-Australian. Including contributions from established writers, public figures and exciting new talents, this diverse and unpredictable collection throws out the cliches and takes readers behind the stereotypes.

At twenty-something, Alice is hungry for the milestones of young womanhood: leaving home, choosing a career, finding friendship and love on her own terms. But with each step she takes away from home, she feels the sharp tug of invisible threads: the love and worry of her Chinese-Cambodian parents, who want more than anything to keep her from harm. Her father fears for her safety to an extraordinary degree - but why? As she digs further into her father's story, Alice embarks on a journey of painful discovery: of memories lost and found, of her own fears for the future, of history and how it echoes down the years.