Jordan Sonnenblick, author of Notes from the Midnight Driver (reviewed here in May 2008) is the author here, and it’s another very good read. San Lee is a teenager who has moved towns and schools often, and he’s become used to recreating himself in each place. He is adopted,  an Asian with Caucasian parents; his father is in jail;  reality is not all that attractive.  This time though, he doesn’t really make a choice about his identity; a few assumptions by others, a little encouragement of those assumptions, knowledge he has only because he studied the subject at his last school, and he is suddenly seen as a Zen master. Even a girl who seems way out of his normal league is interested in him and gives some pretty good signals, but San is so busy keeping up appearances and trying to keep out of trouble that he doesn’t exactly read things clearly and makes some unjustified assumptions of his own. Sooner or later the castle of lies is going to tumble down, though a lot of library research keeps him ahead for a while,  and when it does he discovers quite a lot more about himself and others.  Very funny,  with wisdom included, for twelve-year-olds and up. Great characters, including the adults, good story and themes, and laugh-aloud funny in many places.