The White King
by Gy
An international sensation, this startling and heartbreaking debut introduces us to precocious eleven-year-old Djata, whose life in the totalitarian state he calls home is about to change forever.Djata doesn't know what to make of the two men who lead his father away one day, nor does he understand why his mother bursts into tears when he brings her tulips on her wedding anniversary. He does know that he must learn to fill his father's shoes, even though among his friends he is still a boy: fighting with neighborhood bullies, playing soccer on radioactive grass, having inappropriate crushes, sneaking into secret screening rooms, and shooting at stray cats with his gun-happy grandfather. But the random brutality of Djata's world is tempered by the hilarious absurdity of the situations he finds himself in, by his enduring faith in his father's return, and by moments of unexpected beauty, hope, and kindness.Structured as a series of interconnected stories propelled by the...