Reviews with content warning for Racism - Finding Junie Kim

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh

18 reviews

dominicangirl's review against another edition

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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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nighttgarden's review against another edition

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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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ejbheartsrbg's review against another edition

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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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pika_chuu's review against another edition

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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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drcrankypantsphd's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

2.0

This book feels like the equivalent of a All Are Welcome Here yard sign in the front yard of a house in a neighborhood where the least expensive home is $500K. While possibly a heartfelt statement, it’s mostly virtue signaling. I wanted to like Junie. I really did, but her lack of characterization, and the development of the larger plot, was the cost of a set of politics serving as a large bat the reader is hit over the head with repeatedly - the first third of the book feels like a constant barrage, after which I very nearly just gave up. There’s not much subtlety here, no opportunities to contemplate shades of grey and what that means for the characters. The grandparent’s stories of lives in Korea are bright spots, though suffer from some of the same issues with storytelling as Junie’s contemporary storyline.

The writing never feels confident enough to allow Junie’s story, and the stories of her grandparents, to be enough to help readers think about racism, particularly racism against the Asian American community, and the history of Korea, which prompted the influx of Korean immigrants and dissolution of a singular Korea. There’s not a lot of breathing room here for readers, the book feeling so worried about conveying a particular message, it never fully trusts the reader.

Alternatives: John Cho’s Troublemaker (excellent character development around Korean and immigrant identities) and Julie Lee’s Brother’s Keeper (delving into the histories and experiences of the Korean War).

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tania_mybookishsecret's review

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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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greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

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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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jackelz's review against another edition

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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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peterparkerslabpartner's review against another edition

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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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bronsonmh's review

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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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