Hua Hsu’s prizewinning book captures a period of California life as a student. The overarching story is about Hua’s bond with his late-friend Ken. The currents underneath swirl with meditations on how friendship is formed when you are developing your own sense of self, and whether it’s authentic.  An outstanding memoir where simple labels such as ‘coming-of-age’, ‘the immigrant experience’, and ‘identity’ seem too reductive and leave so much unsaid.