Boy Underground
Books | Fiction / Historical / General
4.4
Catherine Ryan Hyde
During WWII, a teenage boy finds his voice, the courage of his convictions, and friends for life in an emotional and uplifting novel by the New York Times and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author. 1941. Steven Katz is the son of prosperous landowners in rural California. Although his parents don't approve, he's found true friends in Nick, Suki, and Ollie, sons of field workers. The group is inseparable. But Steven is in turmoil. He's beginning to acknowledge that his feelings for Nick amount to more than friendship. When the bombing of Pearl Harbor draws the US into World War II, Suki and his family are forced to leave their home for the internment camp at Manzanar. Ollie enlists in the army and ships out. And Nick must flee. Betrayed by his own father and accused of a crime he didn't commit, he turns to Steven for help. Hiding Nick in a root cellar on his family's farm, Steven acts as Nick's protector and lifeline to the outside world. As the war escalates, bonds deepen and the fear of being different falls away. But after Nick unexpectedly disappears one day, Steven's life focus is to find him. On the way, Steven finds a place he belongs and a lesson about love that will last him his lifetime.
Historical Fiction
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More Details:
Author
Catherine Ryan Hyde
Pages
334
Publisher
Amazon Publishing
Published Date
2021
ISBN
1542021553 9781542021555
Community ReviewsSee all
"A gripping, tear wrenching, queer coming of age story, with characters that are deeply relatable despite their displacement in time. The main character’s journey to self acceptance and discovery is beautiful, ending in a bittersweet yet deeply satisfying way. This book somehow hits both its emotional and story beats perfectly. Please read it."
"heavy on the white savior nonsense and the book ends with the only other assumed queer character other than the protagonist ending up with a wife in Greenwich Village and telling the protagonist who had been doing all he could to get to him for the past 5 years that he wasn't "like that". For a book with such simple, simple characters and motifs, trying to add some complexity to the relationships when the whole book was fashioned like a ya romance with a little history sprinkled in is just...sloppy. either write a well balanced book where the characters of color are not wise sages or righteous motivation for the white main character or hold up your end of the bargain and let those two crazy kids be gay in the 40s. guess it's what I should have expected from the author of pay it forward."
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