"Many of the stories in this volume are based on Pramoedya's own childhood and depict children struggling to make sense of adult motives and behavior. A boy bursts into uncontrollable tears when his father, who always tucks him in bed, doesn't come home one night and his mother cannot offer him a reasonable explanation. An eight-year-old girl, who is soon to be married off by her parents for money, brags to her playmate about the pretty clothes and...