#ReadShortStories that almost all come from the same book (11 to 15)

It feels strange to review an autobiographical essay, even if it's in an anthology with a few of them and surrounded by fiction. I have mostly gotten around this by not doing it. If you want to know my thoughts on the autobiographical essays in Meet Me at the Intersection, you will have to wait for my full review of the anthology, which should be coming very soon.

School of Hard Knocks by Amra Pajalic — A Bosnian girl moves to Australia and starts high school in a rough suburb, where she is bullied. Another autobiographical story. Source: Meet Me at the Intersection edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina

Autumn Leaves by Wendy Chen — A nice, if bittersweet, story about a Chinese family in Melbourne around the time of Federation. I quite liked it. Source: Meet Me at the Intersection edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina

How to Be Different by Michelle Aung Thin — An autobiographical essay about being different, especially as a young child in primary school. Source: Meet Me at the Intersection edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina

The Last Stop by Alice Pung — This story wasn’t at all what I expected. Told from the point of view of a bogan or “feral” teenage boy who enters a competition for a laugh and wins a Rotary Club trip to China. Discovering that the ordinary high school kids in China are just like him significantly changes his world view and opens his eyes to racism. A really good read, in the end, though you had to get past some racism near the start to appreciate the change in the character’s perspective. Source: Meet Me at the Intersection edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina

The Princess of the Perfume River by Aliette de Bodard — A very short story about a couple who had been separated by the investigation of an alien artefact attempting to reunite. Source: http://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/the-numbers-quartet/aliette-de-bodard/the-princess-of-the-perfume-river