Almond: A Novel

A BTS fan favorite! A WALL STREET JOURNAL STORIES THAT CAN TAKE YOU ANYWHERE PICK *&nbsp;ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY'S STAY HOME AND READ PICK *&nbsp;SALON'S BEST AND BOLDEST *&nbsp;BUSTLE'S MOST ANTICIPATED&nbsp; The Emissary&nbsp;meets&nbsp;The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime&nbsp;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.&nbsp; 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&nbsp;Sandy Joosun Lee.

Literature & Fiction

Sohn, Won-Pyung

United States

HarperVia

Product Description 
A BTS fan favorite! A 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 
 Review 
"A boldly original piece of fiction, plumbing the depths of the human condition with plenty of humor along the way." -- 
Entertainment Weekly\n"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 universal experience complicated here by extraordinary circumstances. This is one of those books that deftly straddles the line between young adult and adult fiction; it has such a gentle heart that readers of all ages will recognize and sympathize with the characters' struggles and celebrate when they ultimately triumph." -- Salon\n“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 \n“In what might be the first novel to feature a protagonist with alexithymia—an inability to identify and ex

Almond : A Novel

Sandy Joosun Lee

Amande

Teen & Young Adult

POCKET JEUNESSE

Yunjae nació con alexitimia, una enfermedad que le impide reconocer y expresar emociones, y que está asociada a un crecimiento inferior de la amígdala cerebral, generalmente del tamaño de una almendra. Su madre soltera y su abuela hacen todo lo posible por ayudarlo a relacionarse con los demás, si bien en la escuela se enfrenta a la intimidación y al rechazo de sus compañeros por su comportamiento indolente. Pero un día ocurre la tragedia: en la tarde de su decimosexto cumpleaños, la madre y la abuela de Yunjae son víctimas de un violento ataque callejero que termina con su abuela muerta y su madre postrada en cama en estado vegetativo. Yunjae tendrá entonces que vivir solo y encargarse de la librería de libros usados de su familia. Es entonces cuando sucede el inesperado encuentro con Gon, un chico volátil, propenso al mal humor y a las peleas, que ha sufrido una infancia traumática. Ambos son polos opuestos, pero el rechazo que sufren —cada uno por diferentes razones— por una sociedad que no los entiende, hace que pasen de ser enemigos, a cultivar una peculiar amistad. ¿Podrá la relación con Gon, el encuentro con una chica llamada Dora que sólo sueña con correr, y su intervencion. 
 
Yunjae was born with alexithymia, a disease that prevents him from recognizing and expressing emotions, and which is associated with undergrowth of the brain amygdala, usually the size of an almond. His single mother and his grandmother go out of their way to help him relate to others, although at school he faces bullying and rejection from his peers for his indolent behavior. But one day tragedy strikes: on the afternoon of his sixteenth birthday, Yunjae's mother and grandmother are victims of a violent street attack that ends with their grandmother dead and their mother bedridden in a vegetative state. Yunjae will then have to live alone and take care of his family's used bookstore. It is then that the unexpected encounter with Gon happens, a volatile boy, prone to bad humor and fights, who has suffered a traumatic childhood. Both are polar opposites, but the rejection they suffer - each for different reasons - by a society that does not understand them, makes them go from being enemies to cultivating a peculiar friendship. Can the relationship with Gon, the meeting with a girl named Dora who only dreams of running, and his intervention.

Almendra (Spanish Edition)

Children's Books

Gran Travesia

El Impulso / The Impulse (Ficción) (Spanish Edition)

Almond 아몬드 Youth Edition 청소년판 by Won-pyung Sohn 손원평 장편 소설

Dazzling

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