Mindy Kim and the Yummy Seaweed Business

January 1, 2020

Gr 1-3-Seven-and-a-half-year-old Mindy Kim and her dad have moved from California to Florida in the wake of her mother's death. Mindy is not excited about starting at a new school. All her friends are back in California, but Mindy is determined to form a new social circle. When she shares her yummy seaweed snacks, she discovers lots of kids suddenly want to talk to her. Her excitement only builds as she and her newest friend develop plans for a snack business. But when things do not go as planned and Mindy lands in the principal's office, will she be able to find any new friends? Reminiscent of Barbara Park's "Junie B. Jones" series but with more emotional depth and life lessons effortlessly woven throughout, this first installment of a new series deals with grief, loss, and how to right a wrong. The slightly smaller type and higher-level vocabulary will appeal to young readers seeking a little more of a challenge than the typical early chapter book. The discussion of Mindy's experiences as a young Asian American student, including bringing 'different' food to lunch and how she looks different from her classmates, is a welcome and necessary perspective. VERDICT A solid choice for incorporating advanced vocabulary into early chapter book collections.-Emily Beasley, Omaha Public Schools

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2020
Grades 1-4 Mindy Kim misses her mom, who died recently, and she wants a dog. She also just moved to a new school and is eager to fit in. But nothing seems to be working out the way she wants: her dad is so sad about her mom that he won't even consider getting a dog, and nobody looks like her at her new school. Even worse, the other kids laugh at her lunch of rice, kimchi, and seaweed snacks. Things start looking up when her new friend Sally convinces other kids to try the seaweed snacks and then suggests Mindy sell them at lunch. Soon she has a good business going, but when a classmate tells a teacher about her new enterprise, her newfound popularity is threatened, she gets in trouble with her dad, and she loses her friend Sally. Can Mindy turn things around? This appealing chapter book starring a girl dealing with a new school is ideal for emerging readers and the first in a planned series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)