(tent) Someone

Death still frightens me. And ever since I fell in love, it frightens me even more. With no name, no memories, and no money, the shapeshifting being known only as Bō decides to impersonate a sixteen-year-old girl named Haruka Niwa. Constantly changing form, always “someone else,” Bō eventually encounters something life-changing: a sense of connection. This is a bold and deeply moving novel about love, identity, and the future. One day, Bō suddenly appears in the world. Human in form, able to shift between male and female identities, Bō has no documents, no money, and no idea how to survive. Taken in by a hospital, Bō begins a strange form of therapy: living as a human. One by one, Bō takes on new lives— a high school girl who loves to draw, a teenage boy brimming with desire, a serious and rule-bound teacher. With each transformation, Bō begins to learn how to live like a human being. Eventually, Bō escapes the hospital and sets out to live independently. Through loss, through love, and through encounters with others, this odd creature called Bō reveals the sorrow and tenderness of humanity— a strange, beautiful, and singular story of becoming.