Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh

15 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This was an easy read but hard to read. I needed to take my time with it because it was so emotional for me. The era Junie’s grandparents talk about, the Korean War right after the Japanese occupation, that’s when my parents were young as well. I used to beg my parents to tell me their stories so that I could pass them onto my niece and nephews. Thought it would be important for them to know their history. But my parents never wanted to talk about it other than to say hurt things about their oppressors and imperialists. This book gave me a peek into maybe why.

I’m still searching for a book to share with my niece. This could be it, but I fear racism might be too big a topic to tackle at a very innocent age nine. Then again, upon reflecting on my life, I can now recognize the racism my family faced at that age, even if I didn’t have the vocabulary for it then. Maybe it’s better that she’s equipped with it after all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Terminal illness, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, and Injury/Injury detail

rkstumblingbear's review

challenging emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, and War

dominicangirl's review

emotional hopeful informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and War

nighttgarden's review

adventurous funny informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I related to Junie a little. Maybe it's cause my name is Juniper. But she was really relatable when <SPOILER>she thought about killing herself.<SPOILER>

Anyways, it's a beautiful book and is educational (in the story and real sense) about the The Korean War.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War

Moderate: Bullying, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

tania_mybookishsecret's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and War

Moderate: Death and Islamophobia

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War

hellodarlinggirl's review

Too sad, I had to stop

before the first family member died in present day. I found the war sickening, but bearable but that hit to close to home.

as it hit too close to home with what is happening now in my life. Someday I sincerely hope I am able to finish it, great book otherwise. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Bullying, Death, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

jackelz's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

How can we protect our children from the horrors of the world? And people wonder why I don’t want kids. 

 

Junie Kim faces racism at school and she must decide whether she will stay silent or speak out. 

 

She also learns of her family history and the struggles they faced in Korea during the war; her grandfather’s compassion and her grandmother’s determination were so inspiring. I love how Junie found the strength and courage she needed by sharing their stories. 

 

"Instead of seeing us as these horrible words, see us as people." 

 

This was a tough one; I took it slow and had to take breaks to digest the content. But I do highly recommend reading it, because reading about experiences that are vastly different than our own is how we learn. 

 

Themes: current political climate, the Korean War, mental health, friendship, family, grief, resilience 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Death and War

bronsonmh's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I thought this was a very powerful middle grade novel. Junie is such a great main character. She is a young girl who loves her family, but also suffers from anxiety and depression privately for awhile until she gets help. It is all because of the bullying and racism she faces at school. When she gets an assignment for school to do an oral history project she decides to make a video interview with her grandparents who were both children in the Korean War and how each of them experienced something similar and something different. During this time she helps her friends put something together to teach their fellow students about racism and how it is bad. I like how the author intertwined Junie's story and her grandparents. I think this book is something both middle graders, young adults, and adults should read. If middle schoolers read this I think they should read it with their parents so that there can be an open discussion about everything that happens in the book. From racism,  mental health, to the Korean War. I listened this via audiobook and thought it was great. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: Death, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Suicide attempt, and War

marlainmontanareads's review

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, and War