It's 1943. As World War II commands the world's stage, nine-teen year old Tedd Burr struggles with his own private battle-gender identity. After receiving a draft notice, Tedd reaches out in desperation to Henry Bellamann, author of the best-selling 1940 novel Kings Row , for advice. Tedd imagines that the author who wrote sympathetically in his novel about a boy who was "too pretty for a boy" might be able to help him in some way. And he's right. Henry responds, initiating a warm correspondence that deepens into a relationship that lasts until Henry's death in 1945. This book publishes for the first time all the letters from Tedd and Henry's correspondence.