Sameer Pandya's novel, inspired by Forster's A Passage to India, is set in southern California and follows three teenage boys from different backgrounds who face a life-altering accusation after a confrontation with a bully. As their college prospects get jeopardized, their families grapple with the implications of the incident while revealing their own troubled lives. Pandya delves into themes of identity politics and the pressures young people face in contemporary society, highlighting the interplay between personal aspirations and parental influences.
Pandya, an associate professor in Asian-American studies at the University of California, clearly knows this world. He gets under the skin of his three principals, their hopes, aspirations and uncertainties, contrasting these with the ideals and politics of their parents.
The teenagers confront Stanley Kincaid, a school bully and drug dealer. He drunkenly lunges at them, and they hit back to calm him down, leading to a disastrous accusation.
#identity-politics #teenage-struggles #parental-expectations #cultural-background #consequences-of-violence
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