Since You Asked...

May 20, 2013
Goo debuts with a drily funny account of a teenager who feels like an outsider in her high school, family, and society in general. Fifteen-year-old Holly Kim is the headstrong daughter of Korean immigrants, and she regularly butts heads with her mother, who is forever on her case about keeping her grades up and being a respectful member of the family. Holly is also the copyeditor at the school newspaper, and after she jokingly edits a classmate’s column about the new school year (turning it from sappy to sarcastic), Holly’s version is accidentally printed. Instead of getting in trouble, Holly is offered a monthly column, and her sardonic dispatches give Goo’s novel its structure. Because the story moves so quickly through the school year, the minor dramas surrounding Homecoming, Holly’s family’s Christmas trip to Las Vegas, a secret admirer, and other occasions come and go without making much of an impact. Nonetheless, Goo capably demonstrates the pressures and expectations Holly is under, and that a sense of humor is valuable for dealing with both. Ages 12–up. Agent: Judith Hansen, Hansen Literary Agency.

May 15, 2013
From debut novelist Goo, a school year in the life of an outspoken Korean-American teen. When the school newspaper accidentally publishes sophomore Holly Kim's fake essay mocking most of her fellow students, she fears it's the end of her high school career. Instead, the resulting controversy lands her an ongoing column--an outlet for her strong opinions that she rarely finds at home, where she clashes regularly with her strict mother. Holly's new writing gig also gives her a reason to interact with classmates outside her usual circle of friends, including Matthew Reynolds, a popular jock. It's a shame neither her sarcastic first-person narration nor her newspaper columns, which are interspersed throughout the novel, are witty enough to elevate the predictable plot and stock characters; readers are likely to agree with Holly when she compares herself to a character "out of a bad teen movie from the '90s." The treatment of Holly's ambivalence about her Korean upbringing is also disappointing: Holly's complaints only touch upon the surface of the complex cultural issues in play, and the characterization of her mother relies too much on cheap stereotypes. Look to Paula Yoo's Good Enough (2008) for a funnier, more nuanced treatment of the same topic. All-too-familiar, forgettable fluff. (Fiction. 12-18)

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August 1, 2013

Gr 8-10-Holly Kim, 15, is trying to convince her mother that no one dresses up for the first day of school, only to have her younger sister wander "into the kitchen looking like a 'Back-To-School Cool!' advertisement in a JC Penney catalog." Holly just wants to make it as a Korean girl in an American high school. Blessed with the gift to write, she is the copy editor for the journalism class. While reading a finished story, she alters it with sarcasm and wit, only to have it published by mistake. Her outlandish remarks make her both famous and infamous with the student body. Her gift for words helps her land her own monthly column, which may or may not help her survive mean girls, homecoming, and other high school drama. As she sets out to write these columns, she focuses on Korean and high school culture and traditions, which are mostly centered around holidays. This makes the story line a bit disjointed at times but the editorials she writes and responses from readers seem to hold it together. Any girl who has felt pulled in two different directions because of traditions at home as well as at school will appreciate Holly's struggle.-Karen Alexander, Lake Fenton High School, Linden, MI

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