AT THE LIBRARY
“Krista Kim-Bap” by Angela Ahn (Second Story Press, 168 pages)
Krista is glad to be starting fifth grade with her best friend Jason. Friends since preschool, they always sit next to each other in class; play at every recess and walk home from school together. The school year starts off with a big project for Heritage Month that everyone has to do alone. Her classmates think she has it easy because her heritage is clear but she doesn’t speak Korean, doesn’t dress Korean and can’t cook Korean, so what does it mean to be Korean? Suddenly, the popular girls ask Krista to hang out with them at recess and even invite her to Madison’s birthday party. Jason says he’s fine with Krista leaving him at recess but things don’t seem fine between them when he stops walking with her and not coming by her house for the Korean food he loves.
As Krista struggles to learn what being Korean means to her, she’ll come to know what it means to be a friend and if that wasn’t enough, she has to share a traditional Korean dish with her classmates, which means learning how to make kim-bap with her grouchy grandmother!
A heartwarming story that is both comical and serious, author Angela Ahn creates a realistic picture of an 11-year-old’s struggle with popularity that may interest fans of the “Dork Diaries” or Patterson’s “Middle School” series. For younger children, try “Bee-bim bop!” by Linda Sue Park, a story in rhyme about another traditional Korean dish that includes recipes!