Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh

16 reviews

dominicangirl's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Hate crime, Bullying, Racism, Violence, and War

nighttgarden's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I related to Junie a little. Maybe it's cause my name is Juniper. But she was really relatable when <SPOILER>she thought about killing herself.<SPOILER>

Anyways, it's a beautiful book and is educational (in the story and real sense) about the The Korean War.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Abandonment, Death of parent, War, Violence, Xenophobia, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Bullying, and Panic attacks/disorders

ejbheartsrbg's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, War, and Violence

Moderate: Racial slurs, Abandonment, Racism, Xenophobia, and Hate crime

Minor: Child death and Antisemitism

pika_chuu's review against another edition

emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

Cried so much while reading. My heart really ached reading this. A must read.  Hits a lot of heavy topics in a great way <3 Such a great middle grade book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Grief, War, Racial slurs, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Death and Physical abuse

Minor: Torture and Hate crime

tania_mybookishsecret's review

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Racism, War, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Islamophobia and Death

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Grief, Murder, Racial slurs, Bullying, Hate crime, Mental illness, Violence, War, Abandonment, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, and Death

jackelz's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

How can we protect our children from the horrors of the world? And people wonder why I don’t want kids. 

 

Junie Kim faces racism at school and she must decide whether she will stay silent or speak out. 

 

She also learns of her family history and the struggles they faced in Korea during the war; her grandfather’s compassion and her grandmother’s determination were so inspiring. I love how Junie found the strength and courage she needed by sharing their stories. 

 

"Instead of seeing us as these horrible words, see us as people." 

 

This was a tough one; I took it slow and had to take breaks to digest the content. But I do highly recommend reading it, because reading about experiences that are vastly different than our own is how we learn. 

 

Themes: current political climate, the Korean War, mental health, friendship, family, grief, resilience 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racism, Racial slurs, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Death and War

peterparkerslabpartner's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I love this book so much

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism and Racial slurs

bronsonmh's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I thought this was a very powerful middle grade novel. Junie is such a great main character. She is a young girl who loves her family, but also suffers from anxiety and depression privately for awhile until she gets help. It is all because of the bullying and racism she faces at school. When she gets an assignment for school to do an oral history project she decides to make a video interview with her grandparents who were both children in the Korean War and how each of them experienced something similar and something different. During this time she helps her friends put something together to teach their fellow students about racism and how it is bad. I like how the author intertwined Junie's story and her grandparents. I think this book is something both middle graders, young adults, and adults should read. If middle schoolers read this I think they should read it with their parents so that there can be an open discussion about everything that happens in the book. From racism,  mental health, to the Korean War. I listened this via audiobook and thought it was great. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying

Moderate: War, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Death, and Grief

anna_woodson's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This was an excellent way to preserve history and share rich culture, while weaving in it in with a current day story line. Perfect level of information and relatability for middle school readers. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, War, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Bullying