Although written in the Indonesian national language, the stories hail from many different ethnic cultures and include a number of female characters who reveal the challenges faced by women in Indonesian society. In adopting this approach, the authors make the stories relevant and engaging for students, as well as provide fascinating windows onto the regional cultures found among these islands.

The stories in this volume include:

• “Forbidden Love”—A story from West Kalimantan that tells of the tragic love between two first cousins who had to pay a hefty price for their love
• “Freshwater Dolphins of the Mahakam River”—A story in the form of blog reports from Borneo telling the legend of the freshwater dolphins in the Mahakam River and the challenges faced by the peoples of East Kalimantan
• “Pitung, the Hero of Batavia”—A story from Jakarta in which a Robin Hood-like figure who stole from the rich to pay the poor, played a heroic role in defending the poor against foreign-run gangs in colonial times