We specialize in hard to find items
All Categories
*Price and Stocks may change without prior notice
*Packaging of actual item may differ from photo shown
- Electrical items MAY be 110 volts.
- 7 Day Return Policy
- All products are genuine and original
About Almond: A Novel
Product Description WALL STREET JOURNAL STORIES THAT CAN TAKE YOU ANYWHERE PICK * ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY'S STAY HOME AND READ PICK * SALON'S BEST AND BOLDEST * BUSTLE'S MOST ANTICIPATED The Emissary meets The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime in this poignant and triumphant story about how love, friendship, and persistence can change a life forever. This story is, in short, about a monster meeting another monster. One of the monsters is me. Yunjae was born with a brain condition called Alexithymia that makes it hard for him to feel emotions like fear or anger. He does not have friends—the two almond-shaped neurons located deep in his brain have seen to that—but his devoted mother and grandmother provide him with a safe and content life. Their little home above his mother’s used bookstore is decorated with colorful Post-it notes that remind him when to smile, when to say "thank you," and when to laugh. Then on Christmas Eve—Yunjae’s sixteenth birthday—everything changes. A shocking act of random violence shatters his world, leaving him alone and on his own. Struggling to cope with his loss, Yunjae retreats into silent isolation, until troubled teenager Gon arrives at his school, and they develop a surprising bond. As Yunjae begins to open his life to new people—including a girl at school—something slowly changes inside him. And when Gon suddenly finds his life at risk, Yunjae will have the chance to step outside of every comfort zone he has created to perhaps become the hero he never thought he would be. Readers of Wonder by R.J. Palaccio and Ginny Moon by Benjamin Ludwig will appreciate this "resonant" story that "gives Yunjae the courage to claim an entirely different story." (Booklist, starred review) Translated from the Korean by Sandy Joosun Lee. Amazon.com Review I’m just going to say it: This novel made me laugh, wince, hold my breath with anticipation, and cry. I couldn’t put it down. When Yunjae sees another kid getting beat up in an alley, he just stares. He doesn’t intervene, he doesn’t run away. Pages later, we learn this Korean boy’s inability to express or understand emotion (including anger, which he has plenty reason to feel) is due to a mental disorder. The reality of Yunjae’s condition is pushed to the limits in this brilliantly fresh novel. As he comes of age, an unimaginable tragedy strikes his family, and Yunjae must navigate the world on his own—high school, running his mother’s bookstore, teenage brawls, and an emotion he has never understood: love. Violence threatens him at every turn, but it is precisely his disability that allows him to survive. Filled with heart-aching sentences and stunning moments of resilience and care (when you learn why he eats almonds, I defy you not to feel a pang), Won-pyung Sohn’s debut novel examines a world in which connection trumps emotion and loyalty becomes more than a feeling.— Al Woodworth, Amazon Book Review Editors' pick: Filled with heart-aching sentences and stunning moments of resilience and care (when you learn why he eats almonds, I defy you to not feel a pang), Won-pyung Sohn’s debut novel examines a world in which connection trumps emotion and loyalty becomes more than a feeling."—Al Woodworth, Amazon Editor Review “ Almond is a tour de force -- deeply engaging, engrossing, and troubling -- a poignant allegory of the contemporary Korean condition that marks the debut of a new international talent." -- Heinz Insu Fenkl, author of Memories of My Ghost Brother and translator of The Nine Cloud Dream by Kim Man-jung “Won-pyung Sohn understands that those who think, feel, and communicate differently aren't society's villains, they are its saviors. Her writing possesses seemingly unlimited empathy and tenderness.” -- Madeleine Ryan, author of A Room Called Earth "In her debut novel, film director and screenwriter Sohn Won-pyung (with the assistance of translator Sandy Joosun Lee) has created a tender exploration of adolescence — a univers
