What Hunger
Will be published approx. on 11. August 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-0-349-12577-0 (ISBN)
Description
This is not a tale where the girl is running away from danger - instead, she is the danger.
It's the summer before high school and Ronny Nguyen is too young for work and too old for cartoons. Instead, she spends her days falling asleep to trashy magazines on a plastic lawn chair in her small backyard. She's a stark contrast to her older brother Tommy, her immigrant parents' pride and joy. Ronny can't bear to think about what it will be like when Tommy, with whom she's always been close, goes to college and leaves her alone with Me and Ba in their quiet house.
Their parents never speak of their childhoods or families in Vietnam, except in the context of food: thick spring rolls with slim and salty nem nuong; bright yellow rice noodles called mi quang, steaming bowls of pho tai with thin, delicate slices of blood-red beef floating on top. In the aftermath of the war, Me and Ba explained, meat became dangerous. Ronny and Tommy must never take their lives - or their food - for granted. Well, Ronny never had much of an appetite for meat, and life on the wrong side of the highway in a white suburb has never been easy. But then tragedy strikes, and everything Ronny thought she knew about herself or her life, changes in an instant.
A few nights later at her first high school party, a boy does not take no for answer and suddenly Ronny is overtaken by a force, an urge, larger than herself. As Ronny comes into her own power, she discovers a new taste for life that is poised to save her, even as it threatens to destroy everything and everyone around her.
"Whether it took days, or months, or years, I would come for him.
And I would savour the moment."
It's the summer before high school and Ronny Nguyen is too young for work and too old for cartoons. Instead, she spends her days falling asleep to trashy magazines on a plastic lawn chair in her small backyard. She's a stark contrast to her older brother Tommy, her immigrant parents' pride and joy. Ronny can't bear to think about what it will be like when Tommy, with whom she's always been close, goes to college and leaves her alone with Me and Ba in their quiet house.
Their parents never speak of their childhoods or families in Vietnam, except in the context of food: thick spring rolls with slim and salty nem nuong; bright yellow rice noodles called mi quang, steaming bowls of pho tai with thin, delicate slices of blood-red beef floating on top. In the aftermath of the war, Me and Ba explained, meat became dangerous. Ronny and Tommy must never take their lives - or their food - for granted. Well, Ronny never had much of an appetite for meat, and life on the wrong side of the highway in a white suburb has never been easy. But then tragedy strikes, and everything Ronny thought she knew about herself or her life, changes in an instant.
A few nights later at her first high school party, a boy does not take no for answer and suddenly Ronny is overtaken by a force, an urge, larger than herself. As Ronny comes into her own power, she discovers a new taste for life that is poised to save her, even as it threatens to destroy everything and everyone around her.
"Whether it took days, or months, or years, I would come for him.
And I would savour the moment."
Reviews / Votes
What Hunger is a beautifully woven coming-of-age story about loss, identity, and intergenerational trauma. Dang's writing pulses with a simmering rage, and the novel's bloodcurdling conclusion will leave readers with a lasting sense of satisfaction * Monika Kim, author of The Eyes Are the Best Part * Raw, violent, tender, beautiful: Catherine Dang's coming-of-age horror encapsulates both the savagery and fragility of teenage girlhood, like if Jennifer's Body was elevated by a rich exploration of grief and a Vietnamese refugee family's experiences in America after fleeing war. Dang's darkly playful portrayal of cannibalism is vivid, funny, real - and a perfectly gruesome metaphor for female rage. It builds and boils, and the final twist had me cheering. * Ashley Winstead, USA Today-bestselling author of Midnight is the Darkest Hour * A hypnotic blend between a touching coming of age story and visceral exploration of adolescent rage, What Hunger made me laugh, flinch, and cry. I couldn't put it down. * E.K. Sathue, author of youthjuice * Tender, bold and brutally honest, What Hunger follows a Vietnamese refugee family struggling with questions of identity and grief. Dang deftly balances a poignant coming of age story and a gripping portrayal of feminine power. A brilliant novel filled with heartbreak and suspense. * K.T. Nguyen, author of You Know What You Did * Gut-wrenching and raw (in more ways than one), What Hunger lays bare the devastating impact of grief, and how traumas, both past and present, can collide, redefining one's understanding of family, heritage, and identity. This utterly engrossing tale of female rage had me at page one, going from slow simmer to full boil in the most brutal and delicious of ways. * Robin Wasley, William C. Morris Award finalist for Dead Things Are Closer Than They Appear * What Hunger is a raw portrayal of the violence that bubbles up inside us in the uncertainty of grief and adolescence. This book is as fierce, unpredictable, and tender as the teenage girl at its center * Puloma Ghosh, author of Mouth * Dang keenly captures her narrator's alienation and anger, and the intergenerational tale concludes with a powerful revelation about the parents' unspoken trauma from the Vietnam War. This one hits hard. * Publishers Weekly, Starred Review * Intense, visceral, and not to be missed. * Booklist, Starred Review * Brutal and poignant; Dang writes beautifully about the complexity of adolescence and generational trauma. * Kirkus Reviews *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Little, Brown Book Group
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 126 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
280 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-349-12577-0 (9780349125770)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Catherine Dang is the author of the novels Nice Girls and What Hunger. A graduate of the University of Minnesota, she currently resides in Brooklyn.