Finding Junie Kim
AUTHOR
ILLUSTRATOR
SERIES
TYPE
AGE
Children's - 3rd-7th Grade, Age 8-12
READABILITY
5.9
PAGES
384 p. ;
KEYWORDS
Accomplishment, Awareness, Bravery, Change, Character, Cooperation, Courage, Decision-Making, Details, Empathy, Family, Friendship, Growth, Heroism, Honor, Integrity, Long-suffering, Mourning, Overcoming, Perseverance, Prejudice, Relationships, Rescue, Self-Discovery, Survival, Teamwork, Values, Victory
CATEGORIES
SUBJECTS
PUBLISHER
Make Way For Books
After experiencing racist bullying on her school bus and racist vandalism in her middle school, Junie and her friends of color create a club and plan a school-wide assembly to address the racist issue. Junie’s part is creating a video for the program. She also decides to record her Korean grandparents about their experiences with oppression at the same age. Amid the beginnings of the Korean War their experiences of neighbor-on-neighbor cruelties, loss of friends’ lives, and unjust arrests, Junie finds the courage to confront her own modern-day oppressors.
Publisher Summary
For fans of Inside Out and Back Again and Amina's Voice comes a breathtaking story of family, hope, and survival from Ellen Oh, cofounder of We Need Diverse Books. When Junie Kim is faced with middle school racism, she learns of her grandparents' extraordinary strength and finds her voice. Inspired by her mother's real-life experiences during the Korean War, Oh's characters are real and riveting."Both unique and universal, timely and timeless." --Padma Venkatraman, Walter Award-winning author of The Bridge Home
A moving story that highlights how to find courage in the face of unspeakable hardship. --Hena Khan, award-winning author of Amina's Voice
Junie discovers where she comes from and gains the courage to make a difference in the future. --Wendy Wan-Long Shang, award-winning author of The Great Wall of Lucy Wu
Junie Kim just wants to fit in. So she keeps her head down and tries not to draw attention to herself. But when racist graffiti appears at her middle school, Junie must decide between staying silent or speaking out.
Then Junie's history teacher assigns a project and Junie decides to interview her grandparents, learning about their unbelievable experiences as kids during the Korean War. Junie comes to admire her grandma's fierce determination to overcome impossible odds, and her grandpa's unwavering compassion during wartime. And as racism becomes more pervasive at school, Junie taps into the strength of her ancestors and finds the courage to do what is right.
Finding Junie Kim is a reminder that within all of us lies the power to overcome hardship and emerge triumphant.