Money Boy

September 1, 2011

Gr 10 Up-Eighteen-year-old Ray Liu, a Chinese immigrant, leads a privileged life. He lives in a large suburban home, wears trendy clothing, and is equipped with the latest technologies. However, none of these things mitigate Ray's difficulties with fitting in at his Canadian high school; pleasing his strict army veteran father; and accepting his sexuality. Ray's struggle with speaking English makes it especially hard for him to adjust to life in a new country. As a means of escape, he immerses himself in a computer role-playing game, Rebel State; even though other aspects of his life appear to be in flux, the game makes Ray feel in control. But the feeling soon evaporates when his father accesses Ray's computer and discovers that he has been surfing gay websites. The repercussions are swift, and the teen is disowned. He heads to downtown Toronto and promptly receives an education in the harsh realities of street life. He is robbed, beaten, and taken in by Han, an older man with ulterior motives. Yee's sophisticated juxtaposition of immigrant narratives with questions of sexual identity is compelling and poignant. Unfortunately, stilted dialogue and an all-too-neat ending defying credibility detract from the authenticity of this story.-Lalitha Nataraj, Escondido Public Library, CA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2011

After four years in Canada, Ray Liu is stressed out. On top of his parents' divorce in China, his father's remarriage, learning English and struggling in high school, Ray faces another challenge: he's gay.

Playing online war games is Ray's safety valve, the one place he feels valued and successful. When his Chinese Army–vet father discovers Ray's been visiting gay websites, he kicks Ray out of the house, tossing his clothes after him. Furious, Ray avoids seeking help from friends—none know of his sexual orientation—and heads to downtown Toronto. Within days he'll be robbed, beaten, befriended, solicited and left with a decision to make: whether to become a "money boy," joining the ranks of Toronto's teen male prostitutes. Though not entirely sympathetic, Ray is compelling and believable; many of his frustrations are universal to adolescence: peer acceptance, family expectations. For Ray's family and friends, contemporary immigrants who—thanks to cell phones and the Internet—remain closely connected to their first home, straddling cultures raises unique identity and assimilation issues. Yee effectively shows how Ray's birth culture is unaccepting of homosexual identity and his acquired one, at best, is in transition. An ending that feels a tad unearned does not materially undermine the text.

Overall, this insightful and deeply felt novel makes a valuable contribution to an underexplored topic and is highly recommended. (Fiction. 14 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

September 1, 2011
Grades 9-12 All of Ray's fellow Chinese-immigrant classmates struggle with English, but the 18-year-old is the slowest. Feeling small, Ray finds empowerment in online role-playing games. But even they provide no refuge when his militaristic father discovers the boy is gay and kicks him out of the house. Taking to the streets, Ray is soon mugged, and his wallet and ID are stolen. To survive, it appears he may have to become a money boy, selling his body to older men. Set in Toronto, which has Canada's largest Chinese population, Yee's latest offers insight into the city's immigrant-Chinese and gay communities. Though Raystubbornly proud and sometimes self-pitying and lazyis an often unsympathetic protagonist, his experiences at home and, even more so, on the street are vividly presented and are sure to invite both thought and discussion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)