Synopses & Reviews
Peter Huang and his sisters — elegant Adele, shrewd Helen, and Bonnie the bon vivant — grow up in a house of many secrets, then escape the confines of small-town Ontario and spread from Montreal to California to Berlin. Peters own journey is obstructed by playground bullies, masochistic lovers, Christian ex-gays, and the ever-present shadow of his Chinese father.
At birth, Peter had been given the Chinese name juan chaun, powerful king. The exalted only son in the middle of three daughters, Peter was the one who would finally embody his immigrant father's ideal of power and masculinity. But Peter has different dreams: he is certain he is a girl.
Sensitive, witty, and stunningly assured, Kim Fu's debut novel lays bare the costs of forsaking one's own path in deference to one laid out by others. For Today I Am a Boy is a coming-of-age tale like no other, and marks the emergence of an astonishing new literary voice.
Review
"A unique and mesmerizing story populated with characters who are fragile and strong all at once, who invite us to become them as they struggle with who they ultimately are. An important and rewarding read." Steven Galloway, author of The Cellist of Sarajevo
Review
"For Today I Am a Boy is beautiful and captivating. Kim Fu reminds us that the human condition is one of change — of becoming, of overcoming — and this novel, in all its complexity, demonstrates how to do so with grace." Justin Torres, author of We The Animals
Review
"[A] quietly forceful debut…[with] a redemptive trajectory that feels fully earned….Shot through with melancholy while capturing the bliss of discovering one's sexual self." Kirkus
Review
"In this impressive debut, Fu sensitively and poetically portrays Peter's predicament so that readers feel his discomfort with his own body as well as his painful sense of yearning and the plight of his three sisters, who scatter in all directions to escape their unhappy home." Library Journal
Review
"Fu's sharp eye and the books specificity of place (the Huang's live in small-town Canada, where Peters father does whatever it takes to fit in and the rest of his family lies to him) provide freshness....Although the focus is always Peter, Fu is adept at depicting the shifting alliances between him and his sisters, and at revealing how being an outsider shapes Peter's expectations and options, which adds another layer to the story." Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
A fiercely assured debut novel about four second generation Chinese sisters, one of whom happens to be a boy.
Synopsis
" A] sharply written debut...A coming-of-age tale for our time." --Seattle Times
At birth, Peter Huang is given the Chinese name Juan Chaun, "powerful king." To his parents, newly settled in small-town Ontario, he is the exalted only son in a sea of daughters, the one who will finally fulfill his immigrant father's dreams of Western masculinity. Peter and his sisters grow up in an airless house of order and obligation, though secrets and half-truths simmer beneath the surface. At the first opportunity, each of the girls lights out on her own. But for Peter, escape is not as simple as fleeing his parents' home. Though his father crowned him "powerful king," Peter knows otherwise. He knows he is really a girl. With the help of his far-flung sisters and the sympathetic souls he finds along the way, Peter inches ever closer to his own life, his own skin, in this darkly funny, emotionally acute, stunningly powerful debut.
About the Author
Kim Fu holds a master of fine arts from the University of British Columbia. She is twenty-five years old.
Kim Fu on PowellsBooks.Blog
Some recent research suggests that the human brain actively suppresses or erases memories, and there are pathways and proteins that are dedicated to forgetting. That in turn implies that forgetting is adaptive, perhaps necessary for learning new information or staying sane. For me, it’s a counterintuitive idea. Forgetting so often feels like failure...
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