Thank you to the publisher for the gifted book.

South Korea. 1970s. Insu is the son of a Korean mother and a GI father in the US Army who grew up near the army base post-Vietnam War. He spends his days skipping school with other "half and half" friends. After hearing an old legend that water collected from a dead skull can cure all illnesses, Insu vows to help his Korean Big Uncle, whose life was uprooted by the Korean War 20 years prior.

SKULL WATER is a coming-of-age novel examining identity and displacement by weaving two narratives that span 20 years together. While the story mainly follows Insu's daily life—one rife with violence and conflicts—the chapters sometimes read like vignettes to explore the various aspects of a childhood devoid of safety and innocence in South Korea.

I appreciate Fenkl's depictions of the community that the interracial kids built, given how the adults have failed them. In this, SKULL WATER reminds me of BEASTS OF A LITTLE LAND (Juhea Kim). Please note that there are plenty of graphic scenes involving animal cruelty (not the dogs