Girls for Breakfast [Library Binding]

David Yoo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 24, 2005

Nick Park loves girls.

Drumstick legs, cherry-colored lips, dumpling cheeks . . . everything about them he wants to eat up. But he’s dateless and has been since he discovered girls in the third grade, and he’s convinced himself that this is solely based on the fact that he’s the only Korean American teenager in Renfield—the fifth richest (and WASPiest) town in Connecticut. In Nick’s mind, he sticks out like a banana in a wheat field.

And now it’s time for him to figure it out once and for all. Is it all in his head or are his suspicions that his heritage is keeping him from a triumphant boob fest true?

An excerpt from Girls for Breakfast:
What confused me about involuntarily visualizing Miss Hamilton with no clothes on was that she wasn’t even pretty. Her nose was pointy and her frizzy hair always looked sweaty, but I couldn’t stop picturing her naked. I also couldn’t stop picturing Martha the bus driver naked every time I stepped on the bus. I was a perverted Superman. As the bell rang I silently vowed to stop staring at the Playboys at night in order to get the rest crucial to curing me. I glared at Miss Hamilton’s breasts and shook a fist at her bare butt as she faced the chalkboard. I knew in my heart I’d beat this disease.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up–"I'd descended into social Siberia sometime during the first week of middle school and had no idea how I'd gotten there. This is, apparently, the question of my life." Nick Park, a Korean American, describes himself as "the only non-Anglo-Saxon student in suburban Connecticut," and blames his Korean looks for his lack of popularity and girlfriends. Readers, however, will understand that his problem is due to his desperate bids for attention. This edgy and wickedly hilarious tale, filled with references to '80s pop culture, begins on Nick's high school graduation day as he retraces his thoughts and experiences from elementary school to the present. Through Nick's perception of his mother (a woman who is more adept at cursing in Korean than cooking) to his perception of what makes the popular kids popular (hot girls, varsity letter jackets, and definitely NOT church), readers get to know a confused and lonely young man who is trying to know himself by any means necessary. Nick thinks a lot about girls, sex, and nude women; while the text is sometimes vulgar, it is actually quite true to the high school experience.–Jessi Platt, Auburn Public Library, AL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Girls For Breakfast performs the neat trick of taking the misery of adolescence and transforming it into fiction that is funny, engrossing, and perceptive. David Yoo is a talented writer with lots to say about sex, ethnicity, and whitebread suburbia."
-Tom Perrotta, bestselling author of Little Children and Election

“Funny, dark, and subversive. Beware: you’ll never be able to look at a guy the same way after you read this book."
-Rachel Cohn, bestselling author of Shrimp and Gingerbread


From the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Library Binding: 304 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (May 24, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385902271
• ISBN-13: 978-0385902274
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,552,132 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book. Great read., October 24, 2005

By 

Eric Vale - See all my reviews

This review is from: Girls for Breakfast (Hardcover)

This is a wonderfully-written, highly-entertaining, and often hilarious novel. Nick Park's just a kid and he's just trying to get by. And yeah, he likes girls. It's nice to see a young adult book tackle the subject of blooming masculinity head on, and Yoo skillfully weaves the issues of race, gender, and sexuality into an intelligent, humorous story. The book will make you laugh throughout, and the ending is beautiful.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very clever and hilarious, June 28, 2005

By 

Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Girls for Breakfast (Hardcover)

A very clever and funny cover that resembles a cereal box greets readers of GIRLS FOR BREAKFAST. This witty read chronicles the story of Nick Park, who is missing his high school graduation rehearsal to think back over what led him to humiliate himself in front of a wonderful girl the night before at his Prom.

Nick is the only Korean in his white suburb, and he begins to think that his race might be the cause of his unpopularity. As he reflects over everything he has done through junior and senior high, though, he realizes that he has never been comfortable with anything about himself, and that there may be other reasons why he has trouble with girls.

Nick's stories are as funny as they are cringe-worthy, and everyone will recognize themselves in some of his embarrassing escapades. From offering fake martial arts lessons to gain friends as a boy, to trying to ignore the Korean church youth group his parents desperately want him to join, Nick has tried too hard to avoid his true self and to be like people he perceives as popular.

It all comes to a head at the Prom and it takes hours of reflection the next day for Nick to sort through what will happen next. Readers will only receive hints until the end of the book, but they will be too busy enjoying Nick's funny and ironic narration about himself.

--- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you have a good sense of humor, read it!!!!!!, August 6, 2005

By 

Paul Kravis "Paul Kravis" (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Girls for Breakfast (Hardcover)

I was pleasantly surprised by young master Yoo's book about a young Korean boy growing up in the stogy suburbs of Connecticut, going from confrontations with "those guys" to experimentation with women and sex David Yoo has done a great job with this coming of age story, it's got everything you would want in a book, from humor to drama. If you're interested in a great read, pick it up!!!