Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh

20 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

ejbheartsrbg's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, and War

Moderate: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, and Abandonment

Minor: Child death and Antisemitism

pika_chuu's review

emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

Cried so much while reading. My heart really ached reading this. A must read.  Hits a lot of heavy topics in a great way <3 Such a great middle grade book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and War

Moderate: Death and Physical abuse

Minor: Hate crime and Torture

drcrankypantsphd's review

medium-paced

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

2.0

This book feels like the equivalent of a All Are Welcome Here yard sign in the front yard of a house in a neighborhood where the least expensive home is $500K. While possibly a heartfelt statement, it’s mostly virtue signaling. I wanted to like Junie. I really did, but her lack of characterization, and the development of the larger plot, was the cost of a set of politics serving as a large bat the reader is hit over the head with repeatedly - the first third of the book feels like a constant barrage, after which I very nearly just gave up. There’s not much subtlety here, no opportunities to contemplate shades of grey and what that means for the characters. The grandparent’s stories of lives in Korea are bright spots, though suffer from some of the same issues with storytelling as  Junie’s contemporary storyline.

The writing never feels confident enough to allow Junie’s story, and the stories of her grandparents, to be enough to help readers think about racism, particularly racism against the Asian American community, and the history of Korea, which prompted the influx of Korean immigrants and dissolution of a singular Korea. There’s not a lot of breathing room here for readers, the book feeling so worried about conveying a particular message, it never fully trusts the reader. 

Alternatives: John Cho’s Troublemaker (excellent character development around Korean and immigrant identities) and Julie Lee’s Brother’s Keeper (delving into the histories and experiences of the Korean War). 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racism 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

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