I know my son. I know what he is and what he s not capable of.

Revelling in the triumph of a high school football win, three newly friended boys find themselves at an ill-fated party – a party which ends with the school bully, Stanley, in the hospital.

In the space of one disastrous evening, the futures of the three teenage “all stars” are thrown in the balance. MJ, Vikram and Diego are suspended for the football season, much to their shock and dismay. As their families gather to assess the damage – to their own relationships, their reputations, and their children s futures – each parent is confronted with their own inner turmoil, reacting, judging and finally confronting the crisis at hand.

Our Boys is a page-turning and incisive novel about masculinity, race, education and privilege, and the conflict that arises when all these collide. It asks the question that every parent has, at one time or another, contended with- how well can you ever truly know your own child?

Sameer Pandya is the author of Members Only and the story collection The Blind Writer, which was long listed for the PEN/Open Book Award. He is also the recipient of the PEN/Civitella Fellowship. His fiction, commentary, and cultural criticism has appeared in a range of publications, including the Atlantic, Salon, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, and Narrative Magazine. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Asian American Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.