PRAISE FOR BOYS:
“[A] complex coming-of-age story about identity and sexuality.” –New York Times
“A fresh tale about a teen’s struggles to define herself.” –Kirkus starred review
“Gracia employs a whirlwind pace that complements… a true-to-life teen voice to explore societal gender roles, racism, and sexuality” –Publisher’s Weekly starred review
“[A] refreshingly sex-positive coming-of-age YA” –Shelf Awareness starred review
“Fresh, funny, and fearless—a knockout novel about finding the courage to declare your place in the world.” – Sarah Kuhn, From Little Tokyo, with Love
“An honest, humorous story full of candor that explores the pressures of growing up Asian American, teen identity and sexuality, and finding room to forge your own path” – Suzanne Park, Sunny Song Will Never be Famous
“A touching exploration of the way teens navigate different relationships in their lives, and what it really means to not settle.” – Sonia Hartl, The Lost Girls
Discussion Guide for grades 9 & up
A high school senior navigates messy boys and messier relationships in this bitingly funny and much-needed look into the overlap of Asian American identity and teen sexuality.
June Chu is the “just good enough” girl. Good enough to line the shelves with a slew of third-place trophies and steal secret kisses from her AP Bio partner, Rhys. But not good enough to meet literally any of her Taiwanese mother’s unrelenting expectations or to get Rhys to commit to anything beyond a well-timed joke.
While June’s mother insists she follow in her (perfect) sister’s footsteps and get a (full-ride) violin scholarship to Northwestern (to study pre-med), June doesn’t see the point in trying too hard if she’s destined to fall short anyway. Instead, she focuses her efforts on making her relationship with Rhys “official.” But after her methodically-planned, tipsily-executed scheme explodes on the level of a nuclear disaster, she flings herself into a new relationship with a guy who’s not allergic to the word “girlfriend.”
But as the line blurs between sex and love, and the pressure to map out her entire future threatens to burst, June will have to decide on whose terms she’s going to live her life—even if it means fraying her relationship with her mother beyond repair.
author anna gracia 