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2022 ALA John Newbery Medal and Honors
By Kristen · 9 posts · 202 views
By Kristen · 9 posts · 202 views
last updated Mar 30, 2022 12:00PM
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Junie Kim feels scared, hopeless and depressed after vandals deface her school gym with racial slurs against Blacks, Latinos and Asians. And Tobias, an insensitive jerk at school, will not stop taunting her and her brother about eating dog and being “commies”. With loving, concerned parents and an observant school counselor, Junie finds some help. But it isn’t until she learns the harrowing, brutal experiences that her grandparents suffered as children during the Korean War that she’s able to pu
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Richie’s Picks: FINDING JUNIE KIM by Ellen Oh, HarperCollins, May 2021, 368p., ISBN: 978-0-06-298798-3
“Through early morning fog I see
Visions of the things to be
The pains that are withheld for me
I realize and I can see
That suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please”
– Johnny Mandel, the theme from M*A*S*H, the movie/TV show featuring an American medical military unit, set amidst the Korean War
“President Trump’s first use of the phrase ‘Kung Flu’--during a c ...more
“Through early morning fog I see
Visions of the things to be
The pains that are withheld for me
I realize and I can see
That suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please”
– Johnny Mandel, the theme from M*A*S*H, the movie/TV show featuring an American medical military unit, set amidst the Korean War
“President Trump’s first use of the phrase ‘Kung Flu’--during a c ...more
Junie is a middle schooler who is struggling with bullying and racism at her school. She has a supportive family but has a hard time asking for help when things get tough. A school project has her recording interviews with her grandfather, who emigrated to the US from Korea after he and his wife were married, after the Korean War. Both her grandmother and her grandfather have surprising stories to tell about their experiences with racism and war and Junie uses these experiences to help her deal
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I liked this book A LOT — and I wanted to love it entirely, but I think some of the important messages get muddled because it takes on so many tough issues.
Don’t get me wrong — I know kids today are dealing with a lot of these problems today, and many kids are having to face them concurrently, just like Junie Kim. As a reader, however, I often felt a little confused and I was unsure what I was really focusing on.
The story addresses racism in many facets (from the bully who calls Junie a “commie ...more
Don’t get me wrong — I know kids today are dealing with a lot of these problems today, and many kids are having to face them concurrently, just like Junie Kim. As a reader, however, I often felt a little confused and I was unsure what I was really focusing on.
The story addresses racism in many facets (from the bully who calls Junie a “commie ...more
This is such an important story. Perfect and important read for every MG student. I learned so much about the Korean War from this story.
The format of the book was unique! The contemporary parts of the story deal with Junie Kim's depression as a result of blatant racist attacks because she's Korean American. As Junie deals with her issues, she tackles a school project where she interviews her Korean grandparents who lived through the Korean War. Their stories then take centerstage.
Even if it was from a child's perspective, I appreciated the historical context of the Korean War because my father-in-law was a POW in North Korea. ...more
Even if it was from a child's perspective, I appreciated the historical context of the Korean War because my father-in-law was a POW in North Korea. ...more
Jun 06, 2022
Dolores
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
grandparents,
school,
history,
realistic,
moving,
politics,
audio-book,
anxiety,
bravery,
self-esteem
Junie Kim has been dealing with some pretty brutal racism and bullying from a classmate on the bus for a while now, so she tries to keep her head down and not make waves. But when racist graffiti begins to appear in her school and her friends want to try to make a difference, can she find the courage to speak up? Maybe she can find strength in the present in the stories her grandparents tell her about their past--and about their experiences during the Korean War. Told in alternating perspectives
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Junie Kim struggles with depression, especially after all of the racism she witnesses at her middle school.
A school assignment to interview someone from the silent or boomer generation gives Junie the opportunity to learn more about her family history, and how her grandparents faced the challenges of the Korean War.
I wish I loved this, but I didn’t. I preferred the grandparents’ stories more that Junior’s own story. I do appreciate how the author tries to tackle racism, especially racism agains ...more
A school assignment to interview someone from the silent or boomer generation gives Junie the opportunity to learn more about her family history, and how her grandparents faced the challenges of the Korean War.
I wish I loved this, but I didn’t. I preferred the grandparents’ stories more that Junior’s own story. I do appreciate how the author tries to tackle racism, especially racism agains ...more
I enjoyed the historical accounts best. They were sometimes tough to read making the horror's of wartime accessible to middle grade readers. I found the other narrative a bit disjointed and kind of thrown in there as a vehicle for the author to get every issue they wanted in the story.
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May 21, 2021
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