BookDragon Korean American

Publisher Interview: Sunyoung Lee and Kaya Press [in Bookslut]

03 Dec, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Author Interview/Profile, Chinese American, Fiction, Japanese American, Korean American, Pan-Asian, Pan-Asian Pacific American, Poetry, Repost, Translation

Early this year, at almost 18 years old, Kaya Press flew the nest. Leaving behind the comfort and familiarity of New York's publishing world, the non-profit indie specializing in "books from the Asian diaspora," moved offices across the country to Los Angeles. Now comfortably ensconced...

Escape from North Korea: The Untold Story of Asia’s Underground Railroad by Melanie Kirkpatrick [in Christian Science Monitor]

27 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Korean, Korean American, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, North Korean, Repost

Please allow me to share a so-called North Korean political joke: “Kim Jong Il and Vladimir Putin ...

My First Book of Korean Words: An ABC Rhyming Book by Henry J. Amen IV and Kyubyong Park, illustrated by Aya Padrón

10 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Korean, Korean American, Nonfiction

No matter where you've been hiding, someone has been able to infiltrate your defenses and made you watch the freakishly popular "Gangnam Style" by PSY (in Korean, 싸이, although apparently it's short for 'psycho'). The South Korean singer (educated at Boston University and Berklee College of Music, I must add)...

Maya and the Turtle: A Korean Fairy Tale by Soma Han and John C. Stickler, illustrated by Soma Han

07 Aug, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Korean, Korean American

In between "Long, long ago ...

The Collective by Don Lee + Author Interview [in Bookslut]

02 Jul, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Author Interview/Profile, Fiction, Korean American, Repost

Don Lee is definitely a good news-bad news sort of guy, albeit all in the same breath. Good news: he's not going to Texas this summer, because his fourth and latest book, The Collective, is published this month and he's going on a book tour so...

Forgotten Country by Catherine Chung [in Library Journal]

01 Feb, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean American, Repost

As Janie weeps over her first-ever separation from her mother, who is about to give birth, her grandmother admonishes her with the grave responsibility Janie must bear for her new sibling. "In our family ...

My Korean Deli: Risking It All for a Convenience Store by Ben Ryder Howe

17 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Korean American, Memoir, Nonfiction

I swear this it not a spoiler because it's on the dedication page: Dwayne dies. His dates are right there before the book even starts: "1968-2009." Which is really quite sad, because inherited employee Dwayne Wright is one of the two most colorful Characters (capital...

Whorled: Poems by Ed Bok Lee

09 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Korean American, Poetry

Timing is everything: I'm convinced my just-got-back trip from Korea gave me an especially empathetic appreciation for poetry slam artist/writer/playwright Ed Bok Lee's latest collection. I just wandered some of those same streets! And I definitely had to read it at 38,000-feet cruising altitude between there...

Chocolate Chocolate: The True Story of Two Sisters, Tons of Treats, and the Little Shop That Could by Frances Park and Ginger Park

01 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Korean American, Memoir, Nonfiction

On a long flight to Korea, I took the Park Sisters along to sweeten the tedious ride. I was barreling my way toward an international children’s literature festival where I was scheduled to talk about Korean American literature and, of course, the sisters and their...

Drifting House by Krys Lee [in Library Journal]

27 Oct, by SIBookDragon in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Korean American, North Korean, Repost, Short Stories

* STARRED REVIEW Krys Lee, whose peregrinations originated and are currently paused in Korea with formative stopovers in the U.S. and England, infuses the nine stories of her breathtaking debut with the consequences of dislocation – whether forced because of war, or chosen by virtue of...

The Kimchi Chronicles: Korean Cooking for an American Kitchen by Marja Vongerichten with Julia Turshen, photography by Andrew Baranowski, foreword by Jean-Georges Vongerichten

18 Aug, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Hapa/Mixed-race, Korean, Korean American, Nonfiction

Confession: in spite of every good intention, I haven't yet seen the eponymous show for which this book is billed as a "Companion to the Public Television Series." That said, this gorgeous volume clearly stands alone ...

Author/Artist Interview: CYJO + “KYOPO”

08 Aug, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Author Interview/Profile, Korean, Korean American, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

CYJO + “KYOPO” = MARVEL Come one, come all! Get ready for the upcoming Asian Pacific American invasion at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. “Portraiture Now: Asian American Portraits of Encounter” opens this Thursday, August 12 and runs through October 14, 2012. Presented in conjunction with the...

This Burns My Heart by Samuel Park [in Library Journal]

15 Jul, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Korean American, Repost

Set in postwar South Korea, where tradition is challenged by the eye-blinking changes erupting from a rapidly evolving modernity, Park’s (Shakespeare’s Sonnets) novel is essentially a triangulated love story involving wealthy and stunning Soo-Ja who dreams of becoming a diplomat in a brave new world,...

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

11 Jul, by SIBookDragon in African, Korean American, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Since 2002 Newbery winner Linda Sue Park’s latest title was published in November 2010, borders shifted (again) and the world recognized the birth of the newest nation, the Republic of South Sudan, on July 9 at midnight. The weekend announcement makes A Long Walk to Water almost...

Author Interview: Jenny Han [in Bookslut]

02 May, by SIBookDragon in Author Interview/Profile, Fiction, Korean American, Middle Grade Readers, Repost, Young Adult Readers

In case you were unsure, that’s Jenny Han as in “Han Solo,” not Han as in “hand.” Befitting of the bestselling young adult author that she is, she can recite all the dialogue from the cult film Clueless, and she gladly admits her adoration for...

We’ll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han

06 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Fiction, Korean American, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Been waiting to exhale? Here it comes ...

It’s Not Summer without You by Jenny Han

04 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Fiction, Korean American, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

First things first: do NOT read further if you haven't read Part 1 of Jenny Han's sigh-inducing Belly-trilogy, The Summer I Turned Pretty. Why spoil this delicious experience? Trust me ...

Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream by Jenny Han, illustrated by Julia Kuo

14 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Fiction, Korean American, Middle Grade Readers

Her name is Clara Lee .. "first and last. It just sounds better that way. Like peanut butter and jelly, like trick-or-treat, or fairy and princess, those words just go together. Just like me, Clara Lee." She's the newest – and first Korean American! – heroine from...

Brain Camp by Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan, art by Faith Erin Hicks, color by Hilary Sycamore

08 Dec, by SIBookDragon in Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Korean American, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Checking my inbox yesterday, I received quite a flurry of emails highlighting the latest announcement that Chinese students are outscoring all other students in international standardized testing, with their U.S. counterparts ranked 23 or...

Fugitive Visions: An Adoptee’s Return to Korea by Jane Jeong Trenka

25 Jul, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Korean, Korean American, Memoir, Nonfiction

Jane Jeong Trenka's follow-up to her phenomenal debut memoir, The Language of Blood, is a searing, disturbing account of why transracial adoption does not work. Newly divorced, having severed her relationship with her adoptive parents, escaping from a violent stalker now in jail, Trenka arrives in Korea having...