By: A Kim
Author: David Yoo
Format: Hardcover, 294 pages
Pub. Date: May 2005
Publisher: Random House Children’s Books
Nick Park is your average teenaged boy. He plays sports, goes to school and is obsessed with girls. David Yoo’s debut, Girls for Breakfast, tells the life of a Korean-American boy stuck in the white suburban hell of Connecticut. At first reading, Nick appears to be nothing more than a colossal pervert with a preternatural precocity for female breasts. Truth to tell, I almost gave up on this book thinking that there was no way I could empathize with the character. It’s been a long time since I’ve been a teenager and the male obsession with breasts is incomprehensible. However, for whatever reason, I persevered and to my surprise, there was a hidden depth to Nick’s character. This novel is not so much about a boy’s fascination with sex as it is about coming to terms with your identity and your place in this world.
Growing up in the suburbs is a difficult experience for anybody, let alone a lone yellow face in the sea of white. Nick’s unique dilemma is that, despite his best efforts, he can never fully belong in the popular crowd that he desperately wants to be in while, at the same time, the other Korean American kids at church reject him for being too “white.” However, the sting of rejection is lessened as Nick finds himself identifying more with his friends from school, so much so that even he views the Korean Americans as foreign. As he realizes, with horror, that he is not white, he tries to hide his Korean features while congratulating himself for not being as ugly as the others.
Nick eventually comes to the realization that his obsession with white girls stems from an unconscious desire to fit in or to belong with the crowd. In his mind, if he had a white girlfriend, then he could be accepted by the rest of the popular group. Most of this novel is centered on Nick’s desperate, and often humorous, attempts to find the perfect girlfriend, or at least a girl who is attracted to him. Ironically, the harder he tries to fit in, the less he is accepted. After repeated humiliation, however, he later discovers that his attitude towards dating is the result of a lifetime of self-loathing and self-hate. It’s only when he learns to accept his identity and place in the world that the pieces finally fall into place. Nick Park, the insecure jester, is replaced by Nick Park, the confident young man.
The negatives: It’s great that this is a book for young adults, however, only a specific subset of teens will appreciate it and possibly empathize with the protagonist: boys. Also, some Asian American readers who do not have Nick’s problems with identity may find themselves offended by the negative portrayal they receive in the book. The Asians are characterized, through Nick’s eyes, as ugly and losers. The only time one is described as being even remotely attractive is when one of Nick’s friends is trying to convince him to go after a fellow Asian rather than a white girl. Even when Nick has his epiphany, there is nothing that repairs the image of Asian Americans, except Nick confesses that he becomes turned on by a glimpse of a Korean girl’s breasts, which is a perverse compliment.
The positives: This novel addresses the covert (and sometimes overt) racism Asian Americans face in the white suburbs. In a way, it offers a humorous explanation for why some kids end up being “whitewashed” while others remain more balanced biculturally. Since this is a novel geared towards young adults, it may strike a chord with teen readers who are also searching for their identity, especially if they happen to be, like Nick, the one Asian American in the white suburbs.
Verdict: Even though I felt I couldn’t identify or empathize with Nick, I found myself unable to stop reading until the very end. This is a novel for anyone who’s struggled to find his/her place in the world. 
A. Kim is the Halfway Senior Editor