WOW Dozen: Contemporary Korean American Books
Literature is a cultural artifact. Contemporary literature serves as a valuable mirror, capturing our ever-changing beliefs and values. An author's unique perspective, shaped by their life experiences, beliefs, and cultural backgrounds, permeate their work with distinct viewpoints, opinions, convictions, and biases. Understanding this perspective allows us to uncover hidden motivations and intentions within their words. Collectively exploring books from multiple contemporary authors helps us better comprehend current culture. In this month's WOW Dozen, I present a collection of children's books, encompassing picturebooks and young adult novels, that have been published this year by Korean Americans. Through these writers' lenses, readers can gain insights into diverse ways of life by contemplating the values and dreams of Korean Americans.
Eager to share the South Korean tradition of Children’s Day with her friends, Danbi orchestrates a perfect celebration despite facing unexpected challenges.
Two 601-year-old Korean goblin tricksters make their new home in New York City and go on an unexpected Halloween adventure.
Toasty, a character made from bread, yearns to be a dog so he embarks on an adventure to a park where he finds a perfect companion.
Marker loses her status when she is outshone by newcomer, Pinking Shears, but rediscovers her unique talents.
Eager to be a big sister, Sohee eats plenty of tteokguk but realizes that growing up is more than just eating soup.
Learning that she was named by her beloved Halmoni helps Sora push back against the children who make fun of her ‘weird’ name.
Sisters Haejin and Hanna strive to prepare a special treat, hotteok, for their father’s homecoming, but face a challenge when their batter is ruined.
Ben, wishing to fit in by having a typical American lunch, experiences magical transformations that teach him a valuable lesson about cultural pride and resilience.
Riley, a non-magical celestial being and unlikely leader, faces a threat and embarks on an adventure into the world of the gods, where she finds belief in herself to save the world.
In the midst of the Korean War, Myung-gi confronts the harsh challenges of survival and embarks on a perilous journey to find his abducted father and protect his family from the turmoil of a war-torn society.
When Luke’s beloved dog, Haru, is kidnapped, he embarks on a mission to rescue him and uncovers a mysterious experiment to save the town from zombie attacks.
In the post-war dystopia of Neo Seoul, skilled pilot Jaewon eagerly seeks to escape his troubled past and begins to question his loyalty to an oppressive regime on the brink of rebellion.
WOW Dozen features a list of 12 global books for children and adolescents around a theme, topic, issue or personal favorites. Each Dozen consists of ten newly-published titles with two older "must have" books. Please share or recommend additional books that fit the theme in the comments section or on social media using #WOWDozen. Use the printer icon in the upper left corner of this post to print or save this list as a PDF.
To make a baker's dozen, I recommend Mommy's Hometown and others by Hope Lim.
Hi Catherine, Thank you for your interest in Korean American books and it's so delightful that you've made it a baker's dozen! I actually love Mommy's Hometown. It truly captures the essence of the dynamic transformations of Korea.