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"Pretty Boy" is a short story written by Orson Scott Card. It tells the story of Bonzo Madrid's pre-Battle School life in Cartenega, Spain. It was first published in Card's webzine, the InterGalactic Medicine Show in March 2006.[1]

In April 2021, "Pretty Boy" was republished in the illustrated anthology Ender's Way.[2]

Story Details[]

Bonito was born in Toledo, Spain. In the cathedral in Toledo, he was baptized with the name Tomas Benedito Bonito de Madrid y Valencia, Bonito meaning "pretty boy". His father Amaro de Madrid was a lawyer and Spanish patriot who adored his son. Because Bonito was very smart, the International Fleet came to test him when he was less than two years old. After that, Amaro took Bonito everywhere and gave him anything he wanted. As he grew older, Bonito started to observe his family and discovered that they needed him to be happy so he decided not to go to Battle School. However while studying his parents to find out how to make them happier, he discovered that his father kept a second apartment in the city and told his mother. When he and his mother went to see his grandmother, Bonito learned that his father was having an affair with another woman and had broken his mother's heart. Because Bonito did not want to be like his father, he changed his mind and went to Battle School.

References[]

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