The Eternal Smile by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim [in Bloomsbury Review]
From two of the most successful names in contemporary graphic novels – Gene Luen Yang, whose multi-award-winning American Born Chinese was the first-ever graphic novel to be a finalist for the National Book Award, and Derek Kirk Kim, the equally multi-award-winning author of groundbreaking Same Difference and...

For years, 13-year-old Korean adoptee Lauren has endured the usual racial taunts for looking so different amidst her homogeneous fellow students in suburban Connecticut. Her popular and fearless best friend has done a far better job...
After he swears off girls forever, loner – some might even call him a loser – Albert Kim finds first love over the summer after sophomore year ...
High school senior Patti Yoon, the perfect Korean American daughter studying for her perfect SAT scores, perfectly playing the violin, aiming for HYP (KorEnglish for HarvardYalePrinceton), and (of course!) never talking to boys, discovers her feisty...
"When I got to college I said I was adopted, right off the bat,” says Todd Knowlton, a 33-year-old Korean-American adoptee. “It doesn’t bother me, but once they hear my last name, people always ask uncomfortable...
Maggie is the youngest in a family of baseball lovers. While she might not play herself – girls usually didn’t in the 1950s – she knows the game inside and out. She hangs out with guys...
As the daughter of struggling Korean immigrants, Casey Han has created a persona defined by her expensive tastes, her magna cum laude Princeton degree, and a wealthy family friend who is always there to lend a...
As elliptical as Hur’s debut novel is, it’s also incredibly dense, weighed down by the trials and tribulations of a lost generation of Korean American Manhattanites whose teenage lives revolve around the clubs and restaurants of...
“This book is a corrective action,” insist the three adoptee editors of this recent collection of essays and memoirs about growing up as a transracial adoptee. “Over the past fifty years, white adoptive parents, academics, psychiatrists,...
Yes, it’s pricey, but if you ever wanted a one-stop primer on Asian American theater, this is definitely it. Besides, I – yes, me, yours truly, don’t be so surprised! – get a very sweet nod...
Don’t start this at night because you won’t get any sleep until you’ve finished the final page. And still, the characters will linger on. Min’s aching debut novel tells the story of Isadora Myung Hee Sohn...
Once Korea's greatest movie star – dubbed 'the Queen of Tears' for her ability to cry convincingly on film – Soong Nan Lee arrives in Hawai‘i to face her three adult children. Her two eldest by...
This one will break your heart in the most haunting way. The follow-up to An Na’s Michael L. Printz Award-winning
The Los Angeles riots that broke out on April 29, 1992, was a turning point for the Korean American community. But the events affected not only Korean Americans, but reverberated through U.S. society at large. Using...
While sitting in his bedroom grudgingly trying to do his Monday homework, Kevin is shocked to find standing before him, the great archer Chu-mong, a Chinese royal who becomes a Korean king. The lost royal has...
Jenny’s very favorite uncle is getting married and she’s not particularly happy at the thought of sharing him with anyone! While going through the motions – and learning about traditional Chinese wedding customs along the way...
While waiting for the arrival of the “best winds,” an elderly Korean man teaches his reluctant American grandson not only how to build the best kites, but ultimately to listen and appreciate. Stunning illustrations punctuate the...
Cho starts with “haven’t we heard enough from these ancient white guys?” and ends with “Choosing to stay and fight for ourselves in the...