Almond: A Novel of Emotional Awakening

Yunjae has alexithymia, a neurological condition that prevents him from feeling emotion, leaving him stranded at the margins of life, bullied and alone. His mother and grandmother try, as best they can, to shield him from harm—but their fragile protection shatters when both are murdered on the street before his eyes. Now the protagonist of Almond, Won-Pyung Sohn's novel, truly has nothing. Or so it seems. But when you hit a wall, life—if you listen—surprises you. Connection comes to Yunjae through a neighbor he never knew existed, and more importantly, through Gon, a troubled sixteen-year-old who becomes his classmate. Evil and cruelty remain. But now Yunjae sees a way forward.