Cirrus@Austlit

This emotion-charged collection of short stories presents some of the pressures and difficulties teenagers face today while growing up in the globalised nineties. Never before has the rate of growth bypasses traditional development faster than today, often leaving young people stranded, torn, and sometimes scarred for life. There is no point in pretending that these sometimes fatal situations aren't really happening. The only way to deal with such difficulties is to encourage people to start talking openly about the issues involved and face the multitude of challenges in everyday life. (Source: back cover)

"Bridging cultures is rarely easy. Even when there's a great deal of goodwill on both sides, you can end up in a mess. The stories in Bridging Cultures capture some of the difficulties people get themselves into (and out of) when they're interacting with those from a cultural background different to their own. The eight fictional stories are interspersed with snippets of factual information that provide a stark contrast to the world of the author's imagination. They also point to a far greater body of research, which those who are interested can follow up at their leisure." (Source: Back cover)