This entire series is a wonderful way to learn history or teach it to adolescents. I find today's generations seem to recall more when they learn through other people (pop songs, celebrity gossip, etc.), so what better way to teach history than through someone else's perspective? Yes, "authentic" diaries would be "better", but would the language really hold the modern student's attention? Did the diary writer know what WOULD be important in the context of history? Probably not.

Story of Edward (Chek Chee) half Chinese, half Australian growing up at the height of the White Australia Policy. Edward writes about his feelings and confusion over being a Chinese Australian; the racism he encounters at school and also from his mother's family especially his cousin Elizabeth. He learns to play cricket, worries about being sent to China, helps his father run his shop, and learns about all the Chinese Australians who cannot return to Australia due to the White Australia Policy. The book is 80% filled with Edward's thoughts and only 20% is devoted to things happening and this will make it a "hard sell" for the students. I think that the Chinese Australian students may get something from it in terms of knowing how difficult life was for their ancestors but apart from that, it wasn't a particularly captivating story.