Berani by Michelle Kadarusman

Berani weaves together the narratives of three characters, two young teens seeking to make their world better and an orangutan in captivity in a novel about identity, activism and coming of age.

Thirteen-year-old Malia Kusarto lives a privileged life with her mother in Surabaya. Her mother who is from Toronto, Canada,  is a linguistics professor who speaks perfect Bahasa (the national language of Indonesia). Malia's father passed away two years ago and so her mother is planning to return to Canada. This prospect deeply upsets Malia who doesn't want to leave Indonesia where her father is buried and her best friend Putu lives.

Malia attends a private school, Sekolah Menegah Pertama (SMP) with Putu. The school which has students of many religions teaches classes in Bahasa. Malia has to give a presentation on how palm oil agriculture is hurting the native orangutan population in Indonesian through the destruction of their forest habitat. She plans on handing out a "petition to protest the banning of palm-free product labels" to her classmates. However, Malia's mother advises her to tell her teacher, Mrs. Harwono about the petition because the issue is a complex one: some of her classmates' families may be involved in the palm oil industry. Although Malia promises her mother she will do so, she begins handing out her petitions when she arrives at school.

Ari Aruna lives with his Uncle Kus who has a restaurant, Warung Malang which makes his specialty, sop buntut, or oxtail soup. The restaurant has two live attractions: a mynah bird named Elvis Presley who sings Elvis songs and an orangutan named Ginger Spice. His uncle got Ginger Spice when she was a baby, after her mother was killed in the jungle. At first she slept in the house and was cuddled like a baby but when she grew larger and stronger, she was placed in a cage. Ginger is now so large, she cannot fit through the door of the cage and mostly lies around.

Ari is living with his uncle so he can attend the local middle school. His parents are tenant farmers who grow rice, which means they do not own the land they farm and therefore, do not earn very much money. They could only afford to send Ari to school, so his cousin Suni, the better and more eager student and a girl cannot continue her education. Instead, she now works in the rice fields.

Ari is expected to do chores to help out his uncle. He cleans the cages and does the accounting and bookkeeping. When he cleans her cage, Ari avoids looking at Ginger Spice. He feels uncomfortable. He has been chosen to represent his school in a chess tournament being  held at a private school in Surabaya. His friend Faisel has been helping Ari with chess in exchange for coffee and pastry at the Warung Kopi.

The chess tournament is held at Malia's school and on his way into the games room, Ari and his student escort pass by Malia who hands Ari a copy of her petition. The tournament is a success for Ari who has discovered there is prize money. He wins five of his seven games and their team has qualified for the regional semifinals. 

Meanwhile, Malia does her presentation but soon realizes that Mrs. Harwono is not pleased about the petition. She gathers the petitions from the students and asks Malia not to give out any of the petitions to students until she checks with the school principal, Mr. Ahmad. However, Malia reasons that this does not apply to the online version she has set up on the class webpage. But when the petition goes online and goes viral, Malia discovers her actions have come with some serious repercussions to not only herself but those around her.

In Malanga, Ari finds himself becoming more distraught over Ginger Spice's situation. When Ari first reads her petition he is stunned to discover that keeping Ginger Spice is against the law. He feels her situation doesn't apply to the petition. Ari believes what Ginger Spice really needs is a larger cage but when she is attacked by a group of teenagers, Ari reaches out to Malia and together they work to set up the rescue of Ginger Spice. But will the loss of Ginger Spice

Discussion

Set in Indonesia, the novel, Berani explores the lives of two young teens amid the larger problem of the endangered orangutan and the destruction of the native tropical forests that serve as their habitat.

The two main characters, Malia and Ari are very different but are brought together by the issue of orangutan conservancy. Malia is part Indonesian, part Canadian and lives a life of privilege and wealth. Her father's family is wealthy as evidenced by his mother, Malia's Oma who is driven around in a Mercedes, her mother is a professor, and Malia attends a private school. However, Malia struggles with her identity: she is considered bule, a foreigner or a campuran the Indonesian term for a person of mixed race. She considers herself Indonesian and doesn't want to leave for Canada. However, when expressing her fear that she won't know who she will be in Canada, her Oma tells her, "Dear girl. You are not defined by where you live or where your parents were born or where you were born. You are defined by what is in your hear, by your actions, your words." She also tells Malia, "...You are what is in your heart, you impact others by your actions and your words. Remember this, my love. Indonesian. Canadian. Girl. Woman. Mother. Grandmother. If you limit yourself to labels you are only putting yourself in a cage."

Malia soon learns that her actions have defined her as someone who doesn't seem to be concerned about others. Her petition, in defiance of both her mother and her teacher has serious consequences: the teacher is suspended and her best friend is also implicated. Malia acted without regard to others and with little understanding as to just how complex the issue of orangutan conservancy is. Malia manages to save face by writing her own letter of apology, recognizing the harm she's done but vowing to continue her work to help orangutans.

In stark contrast to Malia, is another character,  Ari who is Indonesian and whose parents are poor rice tenant farmers. Their family can only afford to send one child in their family to school and certainly cannot afford a private school like where Malia attends. It is this hardship that motivates Ari to do so well in the chess competition after he learns there is prize money to be won. But it also results in an intense inner conflict for Ari who has been chosen over his cousin Suni who is not only the better student but intelligent and loves school. "In elementary school she was the clever one, not me, but I'm attending middle school, not her. I took the only place our family can afford. I stole the one chance she will ever have of continuing school. Instead, she is the one left behind to help tend the rice fields." 

Ari promised to visit Suni who hoped to use his textbooks to keep up. But guilt has stopped him from following through on his promise. It is Ari's decision to rescue Ginger Spice that helps him confront his guilt about Suni and act. After he and Malia work to have Ginger Spice rescued, Ari realizes his uncle didn't want to understand or know the truth about keeping orangutans captive. Similarly, Ari feels he too has been unwilling to know the truth about his schooling. "I have learned it is possible to ignore truths that are right under your nose. You can choose to ignore them, or you can speak up."

This prompts Ari to seek out the school administration and have Suni replace him while he earns enough money to return to school. It is a valiant act. Ari also demonstrates that from chess he has learned that "...there are many ways to reach your goal. There's millions of strategies and moves you can plan ahead in order to achieve what you want...I can be patient...I can play a long game and find my way back to school." Ari explains his position in chess terms and demonstrates to the school administrator his maturity.

There is a third voice in the novel, that of Ginger Spice, the captive orangutan. Orangutans are considered highly intelligent and share ninety-seven percent of DNA with humans. Giving human attributes to an animal - called anthromorphism - might be helpful for younger readers to understand an animal's plight but in some ways it's not realistic because as humans we don't truly know what or how they think. For certain, life in a cage is not natural and orangutans do not belong in cages and humans have the obligation to protect these endangered animals.

In her Author's Note, Kadarusman states that this novel was inspired by the experience her brother had when they were both living in Indonesia years ago. He encountered an orangutan in a cage in a small restaurant in the village of Malang, East Java. The orangutan was eventually rescued from the cage and like Ari's uncle in the novel, did not know much about orangutans. 

Kadarusman who grew up in Australia and now also lives in Toronto, Canada has included a short Author's Note, a Glossary, and some information about orangutans which are considered an endangered species.

Berani is another very well-written and enjoyable novel, offering middle grade readers a number of timely issues to explore.

Book Details:

Berani by Michelle Kadarusman
Toronto: Pajama Press 2022
211 pp.