Kween is the debut novel from VICHET CHUM, a searing, joyful story about a queer Cambodian American teen’s journey to find her voice and step into her legacy. After posting a video of herself rapping, an expression of the tough times she's dealing with right now, Soma goes viral. With her school’s spoken word contest looming, she now has to decide if she's brave enough to put herself out there.

VICHET CHUM will be in conversation with Editor Jen Ung at Books of WOnder in NYC on Oct. 4, 2023 at 6:00 PM EST.

In Kween, with her first video posted to social media, Soma Kear has become a viral MC. Trouble is, she didn’t exactly think the whole thing through. All Soma knew was that her rhymes were urgent. They were an expression of where she was, and that place... was a hot mess.

Soma’s ba was deported back to Cambodia six months ago, and it’s changed everything. Her ma’s been away, trying to help her father acclimate to his new life, and against Soma’s wishes, her older sister, Dahvy, has moved back in with a brand-new authoritarian tone.

Meanwhile, Soma’s video has moved from small town hype to actually trending, pushing the budding MC to ask herself if it’s time to level up. With her school’s spoken word contest looming, Soma must decide: Is she brave enough to put herself out there? To publicly reveal her fears of Ba not returning? To admit to herself that things may never be the same? With every line she spits, Soma is searching for a way to make sense of the world around her. The answers are at the mic.