A nuanced, skillfully executed, and highly entertaining exploration of cultural belonging.
A Korean American teenager, believing she’s not “Korean enough,” tries reinventing herself.
Jane Choi, a 17-year-old Korean American girl in Omaha, Nebraska, feels embarrassed about her ignorance of Korean culture. Even Matty Ricci and Bridge Johanssen, her best friends, who are cued white, obsessively watch K-dramas and are K-everything experts. Jane’s second-generation parents haven’t transmitted the bits of cultural knowledge they have, and she’s worried that Franklin, her soon-to-be-born baby brother, will be clueless, too. Feeling inadequate, Jane devises Project K-Jane as a solution: She starts teaching herself all about Korean culture, recording her progress on a private channel on the StoryThyme app. She cooks Korean dishes, learns about holidays, studies Korean language, and watches K-dramas, imagining someday guiding her brother. She also hopes her vlog will entertain her cousins, fellow “white on the inside” bananas, who are her only audience. If she impresses her crush, culturally savvy Taiwanese American Edward Liu, even better. But Jane’s retreat into her obsession alienates her friends and breaks the trust her parents have in her. And when she accidentally goes viral, the ensuing drama shows her what belonging really means. This refreshing portrayal of a young woman navigating culture and identity highlights the diversity of Korean diaspora experiences. Jane’s angst, perceptive voice, and self-awareness add dimension to her transformation. Kang weaves thought-provoking musings on authenticity and the gatekeeping of cultural identity throughout.
A nuanced, skillfully executed, and highly entertaining exploration of cultural belonging. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9780063354623
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
PERSPECTIVES
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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