Hang on, though. Reread the very passage you posted:
We all slid to the ground, and Pol was quickly beside me with one hand firmly on my shoulder. It was an easy business for him; my shoulder came only to his chest. Sometimes it bothered me that I am so small.
my shoulder came only to his chest.
Gen's not head-as-high-as-Pol's-chest, he's shoulder-as-high, which means he's got at least eight inches on your estimate.
I have to add, yes, 15-year-old boys can totally be that short. Modern people in the West forget (or don't know) how much is accomplished by consistent good nutrition and medicine, and tend to assume anyone less than 5'6 is short. Check out Wikipedia on this (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height) - 5'6 is pretty average. I'm 165cm/5'4 and living in China; my students (20/22-year-olds) average about my height, with a few glaring exceptions on either end in both genders. So, in sum, I can totes imagine Gen being 150cm at 15, and a bit taller later.
(Finally: I have nothing against imagining Gen as short, since I am one of the apparently like a dozen females ever who actually likes shorter dudes ... so uh. reader appeal :D )
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Date: 5/23/13 05:24 am (UTC)We all slid to the ground, and Pol was quickly beside me with one hand firmly on my shoulder. It was an easy business for him; my shoulder came only to his chest. Sometimes it bothered me that I am so small.
my shoulder came only to his chest.
Gen's not head-as-high-as-Pol's-chest, he's shoulder-as-high, which means he's got at least eight inches on your estimate.
I have to add, yes, 15-year-old boys can totally be that short. Modern people in the West forget (or don't know) how much is accomplished by consistent good nutrition and medicine, and tend to assume anyone less than 5'6 is short. Check out Wikipedia on this (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height) - 5'6 is pretty average. I'm 165cm/5'4 and living in China; my students (20/22-year-olds) average about my height, with a few glaring exceptions on either end in both genders. So, in sum, I can totes imagine Gen being 150cm at 15, and a bit taller later.
(Finally: I have nothing against imagining Gen as short, since I am one of the apparently like a dozen females ever who actually likes shorter dudes ... so uh. reader appeal :D )