



Boys of Alabama: A Novel
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3.2 • 26 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
A “soul-stirring debut,” Boys of Alabama tells the “bewitching” (Michelle Hart, O, The Oprah Magazine) tale of sixteen-year-old Max’s first year in America.
“Daring, unusual . . . and startlingly fresh” (Don Noble, Alabama Public Radio), Boys of Alabama announced Genevieve Hudson’s place in the canon of the southern gothic alongside Donna Tartt and Harper Lee. Newly arrived in Alabama, Max falls in love, questions his faith, and navigates a strange power. Although his German parents don’t know what to make of a South pining for the past, shy Max thrives after being taken in by the football team. But when he meets fishnet-wearing Pan in physics class, they embark on a quixotic, consuming relationship. Writing in “prose that is always imaginative and sensual” (Sarah Neilson, Believer), Hudson offers a complex portrait of masculinity, religion, immigration, and the adolescent pressures that require total conformity.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Genevieve Hudson’s debut novel is a stunning queer coming-of-age story, colored with equal parts Southern Gothic and modern fantasy. When Max’s father gets transferred from Germany to Alabama, the 16-year-old gets hit with a major dose of culture shock. Before long, Max joins the football team, where he gets a crash course in American teen-boy culture. And then he meets Pan, a flamboyant misfit who fancies himself a witch and makes it impossible for Max to hide two major secrets: that he’s gay and possesses a supernatural power. Seeing the American South through Max’s European lens is a delightful experience that makes junk food and cow tipping seem like strange, remarkable things. Hudson’s intimate writing style draws us effortlessly into her protagonist’s confusion and longing. Boys of Alabama paints a poignant and breathtaking portrait of the road to self-acceptance, making even the paranormal elements of the story feel real and relatable.