50books_poc | Blue Boy by Rakesh Satyal

This book is coming out in May from Kensington Press. I loved it. It's funny, surprising, bittersweet and big-hearted.

The story is told in the first person by Kiran, a middle school-aged son of immigrant Indian parents growing up in Ohio. He has a secret stash of dolls, including his favorite Strawberry Shortcake, takes ballet courses, and regularly sneaks into his mother's bathroom to put on her makeup. One day, he's in the middle of putting blue eyeshadow all over his face and she catches him in the act. The quick-thinking kid seeing the winking icon over her shoulder and says he was dressing up as Krishna. After that moment, he begins to suspect he's a reincarnation of Krishna, and embarks on a quest to walk in the god's footsteps (which includes, among other things, eating butter straight from the tub, stealing porn, and playing a recorder found at a garage sale) as he struggles with bullies at school, his family's expectations, and coming to a dawning awareness of his (gay) sexuality through the pages of porn and accidental voyeurism. He's sensitive, emotionally and physically, but his resilience and powerful sense of identity keep him strong without sacrificing his youthful optimism and artistic nature.

Kiran's insights into Punjabi-American life have a bright, brittle quality, at once unflinchingly critical and deeply loving. His parents in particular are achingly human, down to their personal habits and foibles, their relationship to each other, and the way they are bound together as a family. Kiran doesn't fit in anywhere, but he's also shaped by his family, his environment, his school life, his culture. His propensity toward hyperbole and an earnest commitment to his reincarnate identity make him one of the sweetest, most affirming characters I've read in quite some time. What a treat of a book.

Please consider pre-ordering this book from your local independent bookseller! You can find a store near you here.