For Today I Am A Boy is the debut novel of Kim Fu.
High praise and the interesting cover made me think this was a book about a young person going through a gender transition. The actual story is less so, disappointing me.
Peter's Chinese Canadian parents tried three times for a coveted boy to fulfill the father's dreams of Western masculinity. Peter prefers to hang out with his sisters Adele, Helen and Bonnie doing simple things they know are to be kept secret, like fixing their hair or being girly. His school days are marred by bullies and the disappointed shadow of his father. After his sisters move off into the world, he gets a job in a kitchen and finds his own place. Throughout his life, he has closed the curtains when dressing up as a girl on his own, a desire going no further than the apartment door. While he has relationships with women, his interest in cross dressing or transitioning is not explored further, he doesn't move outside of himself. Times are now changing, and he can see the next generation will be more supportive and open, which brings a certain amount of envy, and I thought, subdued anger.
Rather than a novel of transition, I found this a story of a kid growing up in a rigid household in small town Ontario, more of a Canadian family drama. His parents have no connection and live separate lives, as do his sisters - things are hard for everyone, each of them floundering unsupported. He does struggle with feminine feelings within the body of a man, but that is secondary to working and finding your own path as a person, a portion of his life that remains hidden, as the years go by.
I wanted to like it, it was well written, and nominated for many awards, but ultimately disappointing and rather dull.
2014 / Tradeback / 242 pages
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