What a wonderful book about a young girl of korean descent who faces racism at an american School and falls into depression. Through a school task, asking Junie and her classmates to document the life of an older generation she discovers their grandparents’ past and experiences during the Korean war as children.
Obviously I’m not of korean descent but there were many parallels between Junie’s life and mine. I, too, struggled with depression. And I, too, had a grandfather with an interesting past (he experienced WWII as a teenager/young adult, he was in Cuba during the crisis/lockdown, he travelled to the north pole, he has lived abroad in Iran/Iraq/Saudi Arabia, etc.) whom I loved listening to. Whenever I was at my grandfather’s I asked him about his life. And when he passed, 10 months ago, it also happened similarly to Junie’s grandfather or harabeoji (할아버지). So this book brough up many memories. I also liked to read about the Korean war, a topic which is not usually part of our curriculum in Switzerland.
This book is about: Teenage struggles in school (no love story), finding your own voice, finding your own strengh, teenage depression, Korean war, growing up during the war, some violence, the importance and strength of family
I can absolutely recommend this book, however, I think the rule “own age +2 = age of protagonist” is not applicable here. I find 10 to be a bit young for such difficult topics, whereas older kids/teenager as well as adults will definitely benefit from this book.
