China Boy, Gus Lee
China Boy, Gus Lee
List: $22.50 | Sale: $15.75
Club: $11.25

China Boy

Author: Gus Lee

Narrator: Austin Ku

Unabridged: 13 hr 50 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 11/02/2021


Synopsis

“What a knockout. An incredibly rich and new voice for American literature…China Boy grabs the reader’s heart and won’t let go.”—Amy Tan, bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club

“A fascinating, evocative portrait of the Chinese community in California in the 1950s, caught between two complex, demanding cultures.”—The New York Times Book Review

Kai Ting is the only American-born son of a Shanghai family that fled China during Mao’s revolution. Growing up in a San Francisco multicultural, low-income neighborhood, Kai is caught between two worlds—embracing neither the Chinese nor the American way of life. After his mother’s death, Kai is suddenly plunged into American culture by his stepmother, who tries to erase every vestige of China from the household.

Warm, funny and deeply moving, China Boy is a brilliantly rendered novel of family relationships, culture shock, and the perils of growing up in an America of sharp differences and shared humanity.

About The Author

Gus Lee is an author, courage trainer and former Army officer, paratrooper, deputy district attorney, acting deputy attorney general, government senior executive, corporate COO and West Point’s first Chair of Character Development. He and Diane have children and many grandchildren.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jena Lee on April 07, 2012

I read this as a 12 year old and am so glad to have read it again as an adult. I am proud of my father - for his story, his art with words and his courage to endure such a childhood. I feel as though I have the great gift of a family heritage beautifully captured in his words and I wish so much that......more

Goodreads review by Georgia on November 01, 2022

Go ahead. Just read the first page and tell me you didn't laugh and get pulled in at the same time. And I challenge anyone not to cheer when he finally stands up to the bullies outside and inside his home.......more

Goodreads review by Lp on August 04, 2007

I read this book by accident. I was on vacation, it was sitting out somewhere, I picked it up, and was mesmerized. It's the story of a Chinese-American boy (gosh, ya think?) whose mother dies and whose family moves to a very rough, white, neighborhood. And on top of it all, a stepmother is added to......more

Goodreads review by Jaimie on December 29, 2013

Kai Ting's family fled China as Mao was taking over. They settled in the Panhandle of San Francisco, an area in transition and one of the rougher areas. Kai was born in the U.S. and over-protected because he was the 4th child and finally a boy was born. His mother wanted him to be a scholar or music......more

Goodreads review by Mary on June 09, 2011

China Boy is beautifully written. Lee has a definite gift for description, and it was this gift that kept me engaged for about the first 75 pages...because the plot was thin. The beginning plot seemed scattered to me, weaving through different dates, alluding to events that hadn't happened yet, so i......more


Quotes

Praise for China Boy

“What a knockout. An incredibly rich and new voice or American literature...China Boy grabs the reader’s heart and won’t let go...A wonder of a story.”—Amy Tan, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club

“It would be hard to find a more all-American story than the delightful China Boy. Lee is a natural storyteller.”—TIME

“Marvelous...one small boy’s adjustment to Western culture...a pure delight.”—The Washington Post Book World
 
“A robust, startling book...hilariously poignant...a fascinating, evocative portrait of the Chinese community in California in the 1950s, caught between two complex, demanding cultures.”—The New York Times Book Review


Awards

  • Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Award