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.

12-year-old 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. Her world begins to crumble when her beloved servant girl and best friend Rakyat moves away. 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.

Subaeda 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?

Published by: Read To Discover
Release Date: October 15, 2021
Series: Discover Remote Places
Pages: 136
ISBN: 978-1-7374839-0-8

Praise for Coming of Age in Sulawesi

Rich in cultural detail, this sensitive coming-of-age story of a 12-year-old Indonesian girl encapsulates many of life's universal truths about relationships and community. Young Subaeda explores these truths against a backdrop of traditional village life, fearsome jungle spirits, and beloved centuries-old funerary rites. (Imagine Grandfather's bespectacled, preserved corpse sharing the sleeping room where Subaeda can talk to him and be comforted by his presence these past three years!)

While water buffalo yet pull ploughs, and cooking over a wood fire is common, change arrives with nearby mining operations, automobiles, and mobile phones. An excellent story of its own right, this Tale of Tolerance and Friendship inspired us to search the internet to learn more about the customs of a living culture so different than those of the Western World.

Pat & Rosemarie Keough, Explorers Club, Canada, authors and photographers. ANTARCTICA and LABYRINTH SUBLIME: The Inside Passage.

The book, Coming of Age in Sulawesi: A Tale of Tolerance and Friendship, is beautifully written. The plot is good, and the message (especially for teens) is clear.

Rizal Malik, CEO WWF Indonesia

When we spend time reflecting on our past, many of us remember our teen years to be the time when life was full of angst and uncertainty–a time when we were figuring ourselves out and what life ahead of us would be.

In her wonderful book Coming of Age in Sulawesi, Karin Jensen gives us a glimpse of young teenage life in Sulawesi, in a place called Torajaland, far away from the mainstream. It is a place in Indonesia that still firmly upholds cultural traditions. It is a place where death is important, and the lives of the living revolve around it.

We enjoyed getting insight into the heart and soul of a young provincial girl who feels all the turmoil of growing up, especially that of losing her best friend to work in the city, during a time of an important cultural event. It is a story that is unique, and yet at the core bears the universal human experience of our need for friendship and belonging. This universal theme resonates with most of us, teenagers or adults, no matter what country we come from or which culture we grew up in. We highly recommend this evocative book for 4th / 5th grade and beyond.

Stella and Jürgen Freund, authors and photographers of THE CORAL TRIANGLE and SULU SULAWESI SEAS.