Michelle Kadarusman on ‘Berani’

A powerful middle-grade story about animal activism, Berani (A&U, November), Michelle Kadarusman’s latest novel, follows two young protagonists, Malia and Ari, who work together to rescue orangutan Ginger Juice. Our reviewer Angela Crocombe, who praises the book for its strong character development, speaks to the author.

Berani is set in Indonesia, and your background is similar to one of the main protagonists, Malia. How much of your own history and experiences went into the book?

In this story I wanted to explore having a character who comes from different cultures, as I do. Like Malia, I have an Indonesian parent and a parent from a western culture. In middle-grade years especially, I think we can struggle with self-identity. For those of us with mixed backgrounds it can be more confusing because we perhaps feel the need to have an alliance with one culture over the other. There are no right or wrong answers of course, it’s a very personal journey for each individual. But I was interested to introduce the theme with Malia’s character and to show some of her inner struggles and ultimately her willingness to explore more of her personal identity.

I was particularly struck by Ari, a young man who was given the opportunity for further education in a bigger town and who discovers he has a talent for chess. But his guilt at leaving his smart female cousin behind was poignant. Is this still the situation for young people, particularly girls, in Indonesia or have circumstances improved?

In my previous novel that’s set in Indonesia, Girl of the Southern Sea, the protagonist Nia lives in extreme poverty and is unable to attend high school because her family can’t afford the fees. My earlier research included interviewing young girls and women who have similar lives to Nia. We do know that over 129 million school-age girls worldwide are not enrolled in school. This is not just a problem for Indonesia, it’s a global issue, with the vast majority of numbers coming from developing countries where the cycle of poverty is reinforced by girls getting married and having their own children instead of receiving an education. There are multi-layered socio-economic classes in Indonesia, so this certainly isn’t the case for all girls there. With Berani it was important to me that I present another story set in Indonesia, one that is not only about impoverished circumstances. It’s a complex country, not everyone is poor, so with Ari’s and Malia’s different living circumstances, I hoped to provide a glimpse into a cross section of Indonesian cultures, including privileged students.

You write Berani in three voices, one of which was the voice of the orangutan, Ginger Juice. How did you research and find the voice of an orangutan to make it sound authentic?

I’m fortunate to have a good friend, a primatologist, who studied orangutans in Borneo. The work of Leif Cocks, the founder of The Orangutan Project, was also extremely helpful.  All of my research pointed to the fact that orangutans and humans are so similar that an orangutan kept in long-term captivity would display the same kind of mental, physical and emotion deterioration that you would find in humans. This is a disturbing fact considering our habit of keeping apes in captivity and one that I wanted to try and communicate by having Ginger Juice’s voice heard from her cage. It was a bit of a creative leap for me and I changed her chapters more than any others when writing the manuscript. I also worked hard with my editor to help develop the tone. Ultimately, I hope her passages would allow readers to build empathy for her plight.

Many of your books are about animals and the dangers they find themselves in due to human development. Can you tell us more about the origins of your passion for animal conservation and activism?

I do love to write about nature! I’m usually inspired to craft a story when I can find a confluence of environmental and human themes. Berani is a story that came from a real-life event I had when I was living in Surabaya, Indonesia, when my brother and I rescued an orangutan that was being held in captivity as a restaurant attraction. The experience has haunted me all these years. I was also inspired by young activists in the region who are protesting against palm oil agriculture. I am endlessly fascinated by the natural world and how we as humans interact with it. If I could impart a single message to young activists in my books, it would be to believe your voice can make a difference.

What books and authors did you read when you were young? Did you also love animal stories when you were a child?

I’ve always loved to be immersed in stories that are set in nature. May Gibbs’s Snugglepot and Cuddlepie and Enid Blyton’s Magic Faraway Tree and Enchanted Forest were early favourites. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell is a book that had a huge influence. I re-read it again recently and it still captivates me.

Read Angela Crocombe’s review of Berani here.

Category: Features