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A review by mezzarella
Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Many Americans are not taught about the Korean War and Korean-focused discrimination in our present or history. Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh is at its heart, a story of 12 year old Junie learning how to find her voice in a world that does not want her to speak. Within its pages, we also hear the harrowing stories of Junie's grandparents who survived the Korean War as children. As Junie Kim learns more about her family's past, she learns valuable lessons about herself and the importance of fighting for what's right.
This story is deeply woven with the importance of intersectionality, but never feels forced or preachy to the reader. In the present, Junie must deal with frequent bullying from white classmates amidst a school-wide investigation to find someone committing hate crimes on school grounds. The hate crime targets Junie and the rest of her friend group, which includes a Black and Jewish student. With the help of her grandfather's stories, Junie is able to figure out a way she can make a difference in a way she feels comfortable with. The book also discusses about mental illness, interracial discrimination, and how American racism looks different depending on what race you are. There is also a small blurb about LGBT acceptance (although no one is explicitly LGBT in the novel). I was deeply impressed by the amount of nuance packed in this story, and it's great to see books like this in a middle-grade fiction aisle.
Finding Junie Kim reminds me of other inter-generational stories such as Min Jin Lee's Pachinko and Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. There are heavy descriptions of trauma and wartime sacrifices made in order to keep family together. When reading this book, know that the grandparents' stories covers extreme violence, political unrest, and character deaths (some of whom are children). In Junie's story, racism, hate crimes, slurs, and mental illness are center stage. Despite all the hardships both Junie and her grandparents endure, it is their love for each other that keeps the family woven together. There is a part of the novel where the grandfather expresses how Koreans were able to endure hardship through their sense of community and resilience, which I would consider central themes to the overall novel. Junie thrives only after seeing the professional help she needs for her mental illness (major depressive disorder with suicidal idealization) and has the patient support of her family and friends.
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for giving me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts are my own. I would highly recommend any reader interested in this book to preorder Finding Junie Kim or pick it up at a local bookstore on May 4, 2021. Due to the severity of some of the content in this book, I would highly recommend reviewing the content warnings before reading the book.
This story is deeply woven with the importance of intersectionality, but never feels forced or preachy to the reader. In the present, Junie must deal with frequent bullying from white classmates amidst a school-wide investigation to find someone committing hate crimes on school grounds. The hate crime targets Junie and the rest of her friend group, which includes a Black and Jewish student. With the help of her grandfather's stories, Junie is able to figure out a way she can make a difference in a way she feels comfortable with. The book also discusses about mental illness, interracial discrimination, and how American racism looks different depending on what race you are. There is also a small blurb about LGBT acceptance (although no one is explicitly LGBT in the novel). I was deeply impressed by the amount of nuance packed in this story, and it's great to see books like this in a middle-grade fiction aisle.
Finding Junie Kim reminds me of other inter-generational stories such as Min Jin Lee's Pachinko and Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club. There are heavy descriptions of trauma and wartime sacrifices made in order to keep family together. When reading this book, know that the grandparents' stories covers extreme violence, political unrest, and character deaths (some of whom are children). In Junie's story, racism, hate crimes, slurs, and mental illness are center stage. Despite all the hardships both Junie and her grandparents endure, it is their love for each other that keeps the family woven together. There is a part of the novel where the grandfather expresses how Koreans were able to endure hardship through their sense of community and resilience, which I would consider central themes to the overall novel. Junie thrives only after seeing the professional help she needs for her mental illness (major depressive disorder with suicidal idealization) and has the patient support of her family and friends.
Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins for giving me an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts are my own. I would highly recommend any reader interested in this book to preorder Finding Junie Kim or pick it up at a local bookstore on May 4, 2021. Due to the severity of some of the content in this book, I would highly recommend reviewing the content warnings before reading the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Police brutality, Antisemitism, and Medical content
Minor: Racial slurs, Torture, and Xenophobia
Suicidal thoughts, self harm, mental illness: Junie attempts to swallow a bunch of pills after feeling isolated from her friendships. She does not swallow any pills, but drops them on the floor and goes to bed right afterwards. Her parents see the scene and think she has committed suicide. She seeks help from professionals, who diagnose her with depression, give her the medication she needs, and set her up with counseling. .
Racial slurs, Hate crime, Racism, Antisemitism: At Junie Kim's school, a student and potentially another person outside of school grounds use graffiti to repeatedly threaten and show hate for Jewish, Black, and Asian students. Some slurs referring to Asians are stated directly in the book.
Racism, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Gore, Police brutality, Torture, Child death, Child abuse: In the grandparents' stories, the war between the citizens of Korea and USSR/USA involvement lead to a civil war which indiscriminately killed people of all ages simply due to whether or not someone sided with the North or the South. Children are killed and questioned by policeman along with adults. In some cases, this lead to child abandonment and abuse. There are descriptions of murdered bodies on the ground and of people being buried alive. .
Medical content, death, grief: The grandfather suffers two strokes, the second of which kills him while in the hospital. Junie and her family grieve the loss together. .