Golden Boy: A Novel
*Starred Review* Sixteen-year-old Max is a golden boy. The son of wealthy parents (both are barristers), he is the drop-dead handsome captain of the soccer team, an outstanding student, and one of the most popular boys in his class. He seemingly has it all. But he also has a closely guarded secret that only his family knows. He is intersex (the new clinical term for hermaphrodite). He is literally half male and half female. Max is comfortable with his circumstance, though, until something unthinkable happens, and his and his family’s lives begin to unravel; for the first time, Max begins to regard himself as freakish. “I feel like for years my family has been pretending I’m normal,” he thinks bitterly, “and I’m really not.” Told from six different viewpoints—those of Max, both of his parents, his younger brother, his girlfriend, and his doctor—the novel is a dramatic, thoroughgoing investigation of the complexities of sexuality and gender. Never overly clinical, this is not a case study, but rather, at its heart, a warmly human coming-of-age story, thanks to the fact that Max is such an appealing character. And so his desperate search for identity is gripping, emotionally engaging, and genuinely unforgettable, as, indeed, is this accomplished first novel. --Michael Cart