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Experience the beauty of the Torajan Highlands and revel in the local culture of an elaborate funeral as seen through the eyes of 12-year-old Subaeda in this evocative coming-of-age story.
On the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia, life is all about community. Subaeda’s Grandpa Mohimbi died 3 years earlier, and only now has her family saved enough money for an elaborate ceremony to send him back to the stars from where he came.
Subaeda’s world begins to crumble when her beloved servant girl and best friend Rakyat moves away to work in a hotel in the city. Her elder brother is attacked by thugs from the mining company and subsequently loses his job, and with it, his income. The growing need for sacrificial pigs and water buffaloes for the funeral raises Subaeda’s fears that she herself may be given into servitude to ease the mounting debts.
Between her chores at home, school life, and dance preparations, Suba meets a foreign girl and slowly learns what it means to be a friend in order to have a friend. She makes important discoveries about relationships and the beliefs that tie societies together in sacred bonds. Will she be able to hold on to them, even when Rakyat returns and through her words and actions shakes the very foundations of the traditions that unite the community?
Marvel at the ceremonies, be in awe about life so dependent on the jungle at the other side of the world. And don’t be surprised if you find aspects of your own self in Subaeda and the way her life unfolds, because the desire for belonging and friendship is universal.
