"Mr. Boy" is a science fiction novella by American writer James Patrick Kelly, first published in the June 1990 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction. It tells the story of a wealthy boy in the year 2096 who falls in love with a working class girl who inspires him to abandon his decadent lifestyle. The story won the Asimov's Reader's Poll Award for Best Novella and was nominated for the Locus Poll Award and the Nebula Award. It has been reprinted in several science fiction anthologies. Plot The story takes place in the year 2096 in the town of New Canaan, Connecticut, and centers on Peter Cage, who goes by the nickname "Mr. Boy". Peter has lived for 25 years but possesses the body of a 12-year-old as a result of continually undergoing genetic modification ("twanking") to reverse his biological clock. This process is done at the direction of his wealthy but emotionally distant mother. His mother has assumed the form of a three-quarters scale replica of the Statue of Liberty (also through gene twanking), which Peter lives inside. Peter has only ever interacted with his mother through robotic avatars which she controls – her private quarters in the statue's head are inaccessible. Peter spends much of his time socializing with other wealthy children, including his best friend Stennie, who has been twanked to resemble a "grapefruit yellow stenonychosaurus". The children indulge in orgiastic gatherings such as "smash parties", where they destroy valuable antiques and kill animals. Peter and his social circle look down on members of the working class, referring to them as "stiffs". At school, Peter sees and falls in love with a girl named Treemonisha Joplin (named for the opera Treemonisha by ragtime composer Scott Joplin). After introducing himself to her, Peter learns that she comes from a working-class family who operate a floristry business in a shopping mall. Peter brings Treemonisha to parties, but finds himself increasingly disillusioned with his life of privilege, and worries that the milieu of wealth and nihilism is having a corrupting influence on Treemonisha. In the story's climax, Peter angrily storms his mother, expressing resentment of his upbringing. He says that he intends to leave behind his life of comfort and become a working stiff, despite Treemonisha urging him against this and warning him that he is unprepared for a life of poverty. Peter forces entry into her sanctum in the head