The Beacon Hill Boys

by Ken Mochizuki

Book Overview

In 1972 in Seattle, a teenager in a Japanese American family struggles for his own identity, along with a group of three friends who share his anger and confusion. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0439267498
• ISBN13: 9780439267496
• Release Date: November 2002
• Publisher: Scholastic Press
• Length: 201 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.9" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

Beacon Hill Boys interestingly relives the 1970s

This is not the typical coming of age story; it is the story of what is was like to be a Japanese American teenager in the early 1970s. Racial issues, pressures to conform, family dynamitcs, peer pressure, and more are important to the plot. The issues of the 1970s are packaged together with the story of a junior in high school in racially diverse Beacon Hill in Seattle. While this is fiction, one cannot help but think that this is semi-autobiographical. The story seems perfect as a companion to understanding the 1970s.I liked the book and understand the stuggles and culture of Japanese Amercians better after reading it. I do think that too many characters might have been introduced, and if I read it again feel like I should list the characters and briefly identify them so I can remember them better when they appear again in the book. That's OK, though, since this book begs to be read more than once.