Twelve-year-old Peter Kim is having anything but a happy childhood. His dad lost his job as a shoe repairman, his house is overrun with cockroaches and a cut-rate doctor recently botched his circumcision. Worst of all, someone has broken into his family's rundown apartment and heisted his Atari. In his second novel (after Boy Genius
), Park focuses on Peter's two-day search for the thief, using his quest to paint a painfully honest and often wickedly funny portrait of a young boy growing up in a crumbling, multi-ethnic New York City housing project in the 1980s. Peter is the leader of a small neighborhood gang called the Warriors, which includes his friends Fatty (a dead ringer for South Park
's Cartman), Africa and Jin, as well as his asthmatic younger brother Steven. A Korean-American, Peter doesn't necessarily understand his own culture, but that doesn't stop him from demeaning everyone else's, including that of his building's super and his son: "The bastard and his dad probably sit around and drink chicken blood anyway 'cuz you know all Puerto Ricans do voodoo...." While Peter is a clever, tough, smart motormouth and Park depicts him in wonderful detail, it's hard to entirely empathize with him because of his relentless anger and bitterness. (June)
Forecast:
Park's voice is contagious (think Junot Díaz), and should win him
champions among reviewers and adventurous readers; expect strong word of mouth.
