Seventeen-year-old Wan-Deuk did not have an easy start in life. His mother left a long time ago. His single parenting father suffers from discrimination for being of short stature and tries to make it as a street trader after he loses his job. Income is scarce and his time to look after his son limited.
Under these circumstances, Wan-Deuk does not see a reason why he should take the trouble to get good grades. But he never loses in a fight. Though to be fair: Wan-Deuk only starts a fight if someone insults his father.
Much to his annoyance his grumpy teacher has not only had an eye on him but even lives in the same street. And this teacher is behaving oddly … Then, Wan-Deuk takes up kick-boxing. He leanrs, not without pain, to control his impulses. And more and more it seems that his teacher actually cares for Wan-Deuk. With his help and the support of Wan-Deuk’s classmate Yun-Ha, he starts to shape his life and his dream …
A powerful coming-of-age story, that gives a deep insight into a young man's life in the margins of the society. And the author does not shy away to bring up issues such as social injustice or discrimination of foreigners in Korea.

The author

KIM Ryeo-Ryeong (*1971) was born in Seoul. It was only after turning thirty that Kim entered the creative writing department of Seoul Institute of the Arts. The original book was published under the title Wan-Deuk in Korea 2008. It became a big success and has so far sold over 700’000 times. It was later made into a movie: Punch by Lee Han became a major success with over 5 million tickets sold in Korea. Kim, a mother of two, lives nowadays as a freelance author in the Korean province Gyeonggi-do.